EcoJoe – Here to help you sell your home.

Today, I was introduced to EcoJoe through my friend MikeMueller. It was a strange introduction, just a simple email that announced some video on Mike’s Facebook page. When I arrived, there were videos by some of the best and brightest in the real estate world, talking about EcoJoe. After watching some of my friends, peers, and people I admire in the real estate business wax poetic, I had to ask, “Who is EcoJoe?“

EcoJoe is based off the concept that burying a statue of Saint Joseph (upside down) in your yard or a flowerpot at your home while selling it, is said to help you get a fast sale. I’ve heard of many people who swear by it and others who say it’s complete hogwash. No matter your belief, the story of EcoJoe proves to be an interesting one. Founded by Cindy Lin the concept is simple – burying a plastic statue in your backyard isn’t good for the environment. Imagine thousands of plastic St. Joesph figures being found in thousands of years in yards across the world. Not very environmentally friendly, is it? So Cindy set out on a quest to develop a safe, bio-degradable answer to a centuries old tradition. The answer? EcoJoe.

Have your own thoughts about EcoJoe? Join the viral campaign to spread the good word. Have a video you’d like to submit for EcoJoe stories? Want to answer the question, “Who is EcoJoe?” Send Mike Mueller a message on Twitter or Facebook.

Want to learn more about EcoJoe? Visit the EcoJoe website.

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Welcome to Stillwater Ranch.

Located about 2 miles outside Loop 1604 on Culebra Road/FM 471 (map), Stillwater Ranch promises to be an incredible master planned community on the city’s Northwest side. With homes by Wall Homes, Imagine Homes, and New Leaf Homes, the community boasts tennis courts, a basketball court, and a luscious pool in their amenity center. With the growth to our Northwest, this neighborhood will be a shining example of beautiful building styles combined with smart energy efficient and green building technology.

I recently visited the Imagine Homes’ model and it is incredible. The Lilac model from Imagine homes, this model is perfectly appointed to showcase the gorgeous design dreamt up by Imagine Homes including rock and wood details throughout the home, a wrought iron and wood staircase, a media room, an amazing cook’s kitchen, and much more.

If you visit the model, be sure to check out the attic. Using spray foam insulation on the roofing, the temperature in the attic is comfortable. You know how hot your attic gets, imagine being able to work in there and store your Christmas decorations without worrying what was going to melt (it was 100 outside when I went in the house).

If you’d like to take a tour through the model homes at Stillwater Ranch and see homes currently available, contact me.

If you’re thinking of buying a home in Stillwater Ranch, you can search for homes in the community by clicking the link below:

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A FREE printer? Saving money? Sounds good to me.

Although this post isn’t about real estate or San Antonio, I wanted to share this with you. In my daily wanderings on the web, I came across a message from someone and followed the link as recommended. What I came across was a post about the Kodak ESP 7 All-in-One printer at www.ishouldbefoldinglaundry.com. According to Kodak, the printer uses less ink and can save you money each year – my calculations saved me $239.60 a year (as you can guess, Realtors® use a lot of ink).

The post gives you some great information on the printer itself, but as part of the review, Kodak supplied the author one to give away for free (and there’s a total of 20 of them floating around the internet). I was entering the contest, but figured, “why not share this with my readers?” If I can’t win it, at least it might be one of you! So head over to the I Should Be Folding Laundry site and enter the contest. Good luck, I hope we wind up with a winner from this site. Be sure to look through the rest of the site and take a moment to leave a comment or two.

photo courtesy of gruntzooki

It was just a matter of time.

I think we all knew it was coming, but we secretly hoped there would be enough rain to stave off SAWS calling for water restrictions. Today, the reading at the Edwards Aquifer dipped below 660.0 feet above sea level (down to 659.6 feet above sea level) forcing us into Stage 1 water restrictions. SAWS is expected to make the announcement in a few moments (at 3 PM April 10, 2009).

Despite the call for rain this weekend, once they announce Stage 1 is in effect, it last for 30 days, no matter how much the Aquifer levels rise. So for the next 30 days, here’s the restrictions:

• No watering of lawns/plants on weekends.
• One day per week watering for all households.
• All watering to be done before 10 AM or after 8 PM.
• Hand watering with a watering can or hose is still premitted – any day at any time.
• Washing of vehicles is allowed at home on your scheduled day/time only. (You can still use the car wash.)
• All non-public swimming pools must have 25% of their surface area covered with evaporation screens when not in use.
• During those times and based on the schedule for your address (see below) irrigation systems and sprinklers are allowed.
• The schedule for watering is based on the last number in your street address:
  • 0 or 1 – Monday
  • 2 or 3 – Tuesday
  • 4 or 5 – Wednesday
  • 6 or 7 – Thursday
  • 8 or 9 – Friday

When will it end?

San Antonio’s Aquifer Management Plan Ordinance states that the Edwards Aquifer (as measured at the J-17 monitoring well near Ft. Sam Houston) must remain above 660.0 feet above sea level for 30 consecutive days in order for the Stage 1 restriction to be lifted. Stage 2 begins once we dip below 650.0 feet above sea level and includes additional restrictions. For more information on Stage 1 water restricitions, visit the San Antonio Water System Drought Restrictions website.

photo courtesy of Burning Image

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How “Green” Is Affecting Affordability

Predatory Lending And Mortgage Fraud

I’m especially excited to take the class, How “Green” Is Affecting Affordability, as it is one of my major interests.  While I find the recent turn towards “green” living very exciting, I do fear that its cost often forces many people away from it.  As it becomes more and more pervasive in this country, I do think the associated costs will come down, whether its the new homes by builders like Imagine Homes or the replacement of older air conditioner units with more energy efficient ones or the use of solar panels to provide electricity (we have so much sunshine here in San Antonio, we should take advantage of it).

Going “green” is not going away.

You hear it everyday on the news, talking to friends, and see it advertised when shopping for a home.  Going “green” is not just good sense these days, its big business.  Although many of the things we can do are a bit costly to the average working family, there are some simple things you can do.  Here in San Antonio, our utility companies are providing ways for everyone to help make the environment better and cut our bills down.  Its a win/win situation for us.

CPS Energy will give you things for free!

CPS Energy in San Antonio is doing their part to help get us all thinking a bit more green.  From offering wind power to giving away rebates for everything from solar attic fans to electric mowers, there is a lot available to us to help us make our environment a better place.  Of course, all of these will cost you some money, but one that won’t cost you a dime is their Peak Saver Programmable Thermostat program.  Simply visit their website, fill out the form, and they  will give you a free Honeywell programmable thermostat and send someone out to install it for you (also for free).  In exchange, you agree to let them cycle down your air conditioner via radio waves for about 10 minutes during peak times.  This cuts demand and lightens the load on our city’s energy needs.  The thermostat itself can be remotely programmed by you as well, so hop on the internet and cool your house off before you get home from work or turn it off when you’re sitting on a beach during your vacation!

San Antonio Water System (SAWS) has programs for you too!

We all know we deal with getting water from the Edwards Aquifer here in town, so we know all about water conservation.  A few simple tricks will help conserve a little bit more.  If your home was built before 1992 and uses the old style water-wasting toliets, you can get two free toilets from SAWS.  I know a lot of people are concerned about the flushing power of water-saving toilets, but these are great (I have them installed in my home) and their sleek modern style will look great in your bathroom.  In addition to the free toilets, SAWS offers many rebates for such things as landscaping, hot water on demand systems, and energy efficient washing machines.

If you’re not using SAWS or CPS Energy, check your local provider’s website to see what offers they have.  And check their sites often as the companies often change the programs based on the seasons.

(Interesting note – our hosting company, Dreamhost is carbon neutral!)

photo courtesy of Corey Leopold

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