Winter Safety

I've been thinking a lot about safety in the winter since an elderly friend of mine said she slipped on black ice walking to her mailbox. Idea #1 Volunteer to pick up an elderly neighbor's mail and walk it to their front step. They could put out a basket expressly for that. Idea #2 Buy an elderly friend (and yourself) a box of rock salt that is light weight and has a handle for shaking out the salt in front of you as you walk on your driveway.

Idea #3 The other thing I always do -- and encourage my father to do -- is to hold onto a railing whenever going down stairs. It has saved both of us!

I have wondered what I would do if I got stuck in a snow bank in the middle of nowhere. I drive a lot of country roads and while I have four studded snow tires, I never know when an accident could occur. I'm sure you can all relate to the fact that there is a lot of spotty cell coverage in Vermont. Rather than reinvent the wheel, I googled "survivor kit for cars" or something to that effect. I read several of the results and loved this one: Idea #4 http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/yago104.html His goal is to make people safe but he encourages buying the supplies at a store rather than a pre-made kit. The cost of his kit was $25. I am not sure the article mentioned a fold up shovel, but I think that should be one of the items.

Idea #5 If you have a direct vent furnace, make sure snow is not piled up and covering the vent. Idea #6 Make sure your carbon monoxide alarms have fresh batteries and your smoke alarms are of the Photo Electric type required in Vermont to be installed prior to closing -- why wait until you sell? We changed ours over to Photo Electric. We change our batteries at daylight savings and when the time comes off daylight savings. Idea #7 Have your furnace inspected and/or cleaned every year.

My motto -- better safe than sorry!

Website for Family Activities

I was searching for a website to send people to for activities in the Burlington area and stumbled upon this one right away: www.findandgoseek.net
Wow! There is so much mentioned in this website -- farm tours, places where kids can eat free, diaper services, school vacation camps, places to buy discount ski tickets! It made me wish I had young kids again!

These kinds of activities and offers are a reason why I love living in the Burlington, Vermont area. Check out the website and let me know what you think. I was impressed!

Enjoying Church Street in Burlington

I love going to Church Street and at this time of the year the lights are out on the trees. There is even a canopy of lights over Cherry Street. Even with the cold weather, people are gathering on the street. This weekend is a winter festival but all I saw tonight was a light show (very cool) and an ice sculpture outside of The Scuffer.

I love Leunigs (my favorite restaurant) and also The Scuffer. I love the Scuffer for the "comfort food" of macaroni and cheese -- high calorie but high comfort. And on Wednesdays there are two for one hamburgers, including their veggie burgers.

The Penguin Plunge was today and there were 76 teams and about 1000 participants. Our daughter jumped in the cold Lake Champlain to raise money for Special Olympics. A great day in Burlington, VT: Penguin Plunge and dinner at The Scuffer!

Testing Your House for Radon Gas

What is radon gas? It is an odorless, colorless gas that can cause lung cancer. It comes from the deterioration of uranium in soils, rock, water and can accumulate in your home without you even knowing it.

It can be anywhere -- when we lived in Grand Isle, we tested for radon in our house and it was well below the EPA standards. But the people who lived right behind us, about 100 yards away, had high radon. Everyone should test their homes for radon gas and it's very easy.

If you want a short term test (48 hours) the cost is $50 for two test cannisters. You need two to make a comparison in case your testing technique is incorrect. The test is very easy to do and the directions that come with the test are very clear. I always get them in Burlington, VT at the Health Department at the corner of Colchester Ave and East Ave. They also have free long term tests. After setting the cannisters according to directions, you leave them for at least 48 hours (follow directions carefully) and then bring the closed cannisters back to the Health Department. They will send them off to be tested and send you the results.

If your levels are too high, there is a fix to get the levels to a safe reading. The fix is relatively inexpensive.
For more information about the dangers of radon gas, about safe levels, and how to test for radon gas, please go to this site:

http://www.epa.gov/radon/

Rent vs Own -- What Can You Afford to Buy?

From Kelly Deforge of Shelter Mortgage comes a fabulous chart that shows your buying potential if you were to take your current rent and put it toward buying a home. Why pay your landlord's mortgage? No down payment you say? Talk to Kelly about Rural Development loans that can be 100% of the purchase price. No closing costs? We can talk about how to get those also. Check out the chart below and call Kelly if you have questions. Then call us to help you find a home! Already own? Please pass this on to a friend!

From Kelly Deforge of Shelter Mortgage:
Rental payments and their equivalent purchasing power for a home.
Owning vs. Renting a Home

Monthly Rent --------Home Loan Amount
$800-------------------- $167,000
$1,000------------------ $210,000
$1,200------------------ $251,000
$1,500------------------ $314,000

Contact Kelly to get pre-approved for your new home today!
Taxes and insurance are not included in these calculations.
Subject to change without notification. Information provided should not be considered as a commitment to lend. Offer subject to property and credit approval. Program and other restrictions may apply.
Please contact your Loan Consultant for further details. ©2012 GB Shelter Mortgage
Work with the lender you can trust!
Kelly Deforge Senior Loan Officer
Phone (802) 881-1517 Fax (800) 481-3604
kelly.deforge@gbmail.com
www.kellydeforge.com

When You Want to Sell in the Spring

Now is an ideal time to get your house ready to sell in the spring. One of the most important jobs you have is to declutter and the winter is the perfect time to take on that task. You spend a lot of time indoors and can focus on one room at a time.

We are not planning on selling our house but every winter, I pretend we are. The other day I tackled my closet. This is no easy task as the closets in our 1927 house are minute. I don't know if people had fewer clothes in the '20s but I can barely fit one season in my closet. So the other day I took a good look at everything jammed into the small space.

Here are the usual questions to ask: Have I worn this in the past year? Am I ever going to lose the 10 pounds (20?) needed to fit into those pants that still have the tags on them? (Okay, maybe you don't ask that question, but I do...) What about all the shoes on the bottom of the closet floor? Especially the ones that hurt after 30 minutes of wearing. (They are never going to be comfortable.) Get a large black trash bag and start loading it up for Good Will.

Next, bookcases. Am I ever going to read some of those paperbacks again? How about the hardcovers? Do I care about those authors? Could someone else enjoy those books? Box them up for Good Will.

Kitchen? Old pots and pans. Too many coffee mugs? Bring them to the office. Attic? Are there boxes still packed from the last move? Look inside quickly and get rid of the contents unless they have sentimental value. Basement? Old paint brushes, cans of paint, broken this-and-that. Get rid of them! (Dispose of paint and other paint like products properly. Chittenden Solid Waste can advise you.)

Do your walls need a fresh coat of paint? Now is the time for a new color but keep it neutral. Or touch up with the same color.

Don't worry about the garage. That can wait until the spring.

Don't wait until you are ready to sell to declutter. If you tackle everything room by room in the winter, you will have time in the spring for outdoor clean up, creating great curb appeal, and planting flowers.

So, the next cold or snowy day, pick a room, grab some black plastic bags and ruthlessly declutter. There are new Good Will stores in Williston and South Burlington. Oh, and another rule -- When you drop off your clutter to the Good Will, DO NOT bring anything new home!

Team Work in the Buying and Selling Process

We recently closed the sale of a house that was financed by a Rural Development loan. This is a government based loan that allows buyers to finance 100% of the purchase price and buy a home that is in a designated rural area. Certain towns qualify for "RD" loans. Additionally, buyers must meet guidelines for income.


RD underwriters are very particular about the house they approve for a loan. A special appraiser is a part of the process and this appraiser makes recommendations for repairs that must be made to make a house safe. Typically, electrical issues come up, broken windows need replacing, roofs need repairing. You get the idea.


In addition, buyers typically hire inspectors to go over the house and tell them where there are safety issues and where improvements should be made. Often an RD report is filled out by the inspector and sent to the underwriter.


In this recent house sale, the inspector cited a foundation wall -- really a retaining wall in the basement area that was sort of a stairway/breezeway from garage to basement -- as needing to be monitored. He did not raise concerns with the buyers. The buyers accepted the inspection. But, the inspector implied in his report that it was an entire wall of the main foundation on the footprint of the house! So, RD wanted it fixed -- and we found out late in the process!


Enter the buyer who is a Master Mason! He and the seller spent the weekend tearing apart areas of the retaining wall, putting drainage gravel in the ground and smoothing the wall with a skim coat of concrete. Voila! A beautiful wall. It passed inspection!


The house sale closed yesterday. What a beautiful example of team work! The seller wanted to sell; the buyer wanted to buy; and they all worked together to have it happen. In fact, after it was over, they opened some wine and celebrated. Is this the start of a great friendship?


Buying and selling houses requires team work: the agents, the lender, the buyer, and the seller all have to invest time and energy to make the sale work. They can compromise in some areas and in others, requirements are set in stone and can't be compromised. But in the end, if everyone pitches in, the deal comes together!














(Note from Karin: For those of you who follow my blog -- and I thank you -- I'm sorry it has been so long since my last post. There was a death in the family and that temporarily stalled my writing. But I'm back. Thanks for your loyalty.)