GreenBlog SF

This past weekend, I held open my listing at 1574 Underwood Ave., www.UnderwoodAve.com. I had the pleasure of meeting many of the neighbors and finding out about the people on that block closer. There are many homeonwers who have been there for more than 30 years. Many are 3rd generation. As a matter of fact a family of women, 4 generations came into the property and impressed me so much> How charming, attractive and eager they were. They loved the home! The neighbors were all so proud of their neighborhood and told me about the floorplans of many of the houses, that they had played in as children. It was so sunny, the bay so clear and the wind fresh on this street! The weather is always sunny there! I enjoy my properties in the
Bayview and it’s personable and friendly residents!

This is a great website for Small GREEN House builders!
Check out hte article on the top 5 things to avoid in small green hosue plans.
http://www.esmallhouseplans.com/top-3-green-building-mistakes-in-small-house-plans/

Trampolines bouncing into Crissy Field
A trampoline field the size of a baseball diamond will soon be housed in a gutted airport hangar at Crissy Field. The indoor facility – set to open in August – will consist of 50 conjoined trampolines used for aerial and physical training, as well as trampoline dodgeball, fitness classes and open jump time.

Check out our San Francisco Green Spaces, small tucked away community parks that may even be smaller than a City lot.  This is wonderful and necessary in a City as dense as ours.  We are 7X7 with lots of living space and now a chance for more open space.

http://www.socketsite.com/archives/2010/02/soon_to_be_sitting_pretty_in_a_series_of_plazas_and_par.html

In this Article from Realtor Magazine, the IRS has finally told us what documentation will be needed to qualify for, submit and receive the 1st time homebuyers Tax Credit and the Step-up Buyers Tax Credit.  Move through these pages and click on the additional links to go all the way to the IRS website which gives you directions on how to get it all done!

I am not a tax person and you should always consult with your tax professional on all matters concerning your taxes, though I like to keep my clientele informed and make resources available to them.

http://www.realtor.org/RMODaily.nsf/pages/News2010022201?OpenDocument

Some quick tips for how to get organized and add some green and sustainable practices to your life.

1. Invest in a reusable water bottle….saves so many plastic bottles, and space in your kitchen for the palletes of water bottles.

2. Reduce your paper billing – whenever you get the chance to pay bills online- do so!

3. Bring your lunch to work and use washable/reuseable containers to cut down on wasteful disposable packaging!!!

4. When looking to buy or rent San Francisco Real Estate, think and look for GREEN properties, and detail with your Realtor, Landlord and anyone involved on how to make the property more sustainable!

Carbon Monoxide injuries and fatalities occur most often during the winter months.  Unlike natural gas, carbon monoxide has no smell and is virtually undetectable.  Closed windows limit fresh air circulation so that the danger of carbon monoxide poising is greatest.

Possible sources of that poinsoning are from gas burning appliances such as ranges, ovens, waterheaters, furnaces, etc. Malfunctioning gas burners, defective appliance flues or a damaged furnace are all conditions which can allow carbon monoxide to enter the living space.

Another common source of carbon monoxide entry is from either an improperly lit fireplace or a chimney with inadequate draft.  This could be caused from improperly lighting a fire, a partially opened damper or clogged chimney flue.

The symptoms vary from very mild (headaches, drowsiness, joint aches, dizziness) to extreme (flu-like symptoms, severe headaches, difficulty breathing, allergy symptoms, nausea). Depending on the level and length of exposure, carbon monoxide is lethal.  Carbon monoxide detectors (similar in design to a standard smoke detector) are readily available (drug stores, hardware stores,  home improvement stores) and cost under twenty-five dollars.  They are designed to sound a loud alarm when measuring any low level condition of carbon monxide.

In the City of San Francisco an Energy and Water inspection is mandated before the roperty can transfer.  During this inspection, the number, placement and effectiveness of smoke detectors are inspected, corrected and/or installed.  This is a perfect opportunity to ask for a carbon monoxide detector or the combination smoke and carbon momxide detector to be installed.  It may reflect a slightly higher cost for the Buyer or Seller but will be well worth the addition of an important detector that could save lives.  OR make sure that you update all of your current smoke and carbon monoxide detectors and go ahead and install them yourself – TODAY!!!

It’s true.  It’s New Years Day and I love to do things like clean out closets.  So my husband stays smartly out of the way and just came up to tell me that he had insulated our hot water pipes.

  Now you may have guessed, we are a GREEN household and always seeing to improve our recycling, energy efficiency, use of natural and re-use products, native gardening improvements and general home repair GREEn upgrades.  Natuarally I was pleased to hear he had insulated the pipes.

My husband also happens to be a plumbing contractor in the City of San Francisco and personally he is an avid recycler and energy improver! If he makes a plumbing call to your house, you can almost be sure he will advise you about what you can do to optimize your recylcling and energy comsumption.

Why Insulating your Hot Water Pipes are good:

The water in the pipe stays hotter longer so you are not wasting water, when you turn on the hot faucet – while waiting for water to get or be hot from that faucet.

We don’t have an exact figure, but this saves gallons of water.  Now you are a contributor in stemming the annual shortages in California, and to keeping your water bill down.

Our local San Francisco website for all things GREEN including         San Francisco Programs and Policies, Resources plus links to get anything recycled in SF!
Check it out at: www.sfenvironment.org