We are working on a furniture site to compliment this site, which should be ready by July, 2003. We have this short chapter here to get you started in the meantime. We added this in response to many visitors who wanted tips on furniture buying, and also to answer all the whining car salespeople who email me and moan "how come you never talk about furniture stores with their high markups, why do you pick on us poor car salespeople?" Well, by popular request, here you have it.
Never will you find such advertising deceit, trickery, Jedi mind tricks, and outright lies by uninformed salespeople. Or, one of my favorite lines from Star Wars: "You'll never find a more retched hive of scum and villainy". Now don't get me wrong, many furniture stores are honest, and fairly priced, but many are not, and have "customer service" that is far below their boasted levels. Even worse, the epidemic of misleading ads has gotten way out of hand. This is one industry that needs federal policing. The whole MSRP (Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price) pricing game on furniture is such a joke. Manufacturers set these meaningless over inflated MSRP prices so that when stores actually sell the furniture at their normal "everyday" prices, they can claim they are giving you a huge discount, especially with 50% off sales.
Don't be cheap, buy a good guide to buying home furniture from outlets
Today with the internet, and armed with a couple of good furniture buying books, you can do all your shopping at home. We bought 2 excellent books to help us save hundreds of dollars. These books more than paid for themselves hundreds of times over, what a great investment. One of these books reviews the top furniture discounters in the Carolinas, as well as many online internet sites. That was a godsend that helped us to choose a reliable company to deliver our furniture at a price that made us happy, yet still provided them with a fair profit. The other book dealt with what to look for in quality furniture, that was most helpful. Without these 2 books, I can guarantee that we would have paid way too much, for substandard furniture. Thanks to this book, we were much better educated about quality of furniture, and knew which furniture to avoid. We may be smart shoppers, but we knew nothing about how wood furniture was made, nor did we know what type of furniture construction to avoid. That book saved us a lot of aggravation. You must get these 2 furniture books to save you the most amount of money. This is what we used: Full Report here
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Showing posts with label Tips. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tips. Show all posts
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Top Green Home Buying Tips
Get good help
Not long ago, if you’d have told your realtor that you were looking for a green house, they'd have handed you a gallon or two of emerald-hued paint. Nowadays, with increased eco-awareness and energy prices going through the roof, it's not just us TreeHuggers that are worried about things like indoor air quality and energy efficiency. When screening potential realtors, ask them how much they know about home energy performance and other environmental issues that matter to you. Alternately, services like EcoBroker, Modern Green Living, and other green residential tips can help you seek out a green real estate pro. Learn more about what to look for in a green realtor in our post on Verdant Vocations: A Real Estate Agent?
Conduct an energy audit
If your green realtor is on their game, this one will go without saying, but it's not an automatic. You can tell a lot just by taking a careful look around. Check out the heating and cooling systems carefully and make sure they are in good working order and sized appropriately. Take a gander at the windows, and check if they're single or double-paned, and at the doors, to see if you feel a draft coming through around the edges. Be on the lookout for missing or inadequate insulation, or signs of mold. To get really good info, though, we recommend hiring a professional for your audit. They'll use things like infrared cameras and special fans to pressurize your house and determine how leaky it is; this will help you determine if your potential new house needs any big efficiency upgrades, and if something like new insulation will make sense. Sister site Planet Green has more info on the benefits of a home energy audit.
Remember: location, location, location
New Yorkers have the some of the lowest ecological footprints in the United States, and it's not because they are all amazingly eco-conscientious. Rather, it's because they tend to live close to shops, entertainment, and places of work. If they don't live close to all those things, they live close to a subway or a bus line that will take them to these locations. The lesson here? Choose your location carefully. Even if the countryside is definitely for you, it's worth thinking about commuting distances, proximity of local facilities, and how you are going to get around. How to begin? Visit Walk Score to locate restaurants, parks, grocers and other businesses and amenities within walking distance of your possible future home.
Buy small, live large
It's the closest thing TreeHugger has to a mantra: small really is the new big, and less is the new more. The smaller your living space, the less energy is needed to heat and light it, and the less you have to spend on utilities too. With some thoughtful, careful interior design, you can create beautiful living environments out of some surprisingly small spaces; we recommend multi-functional and transformer furniture to help you get the most out of your space.
Kick the tires
Unless you really luck out, your new home will almost certainly require a few aesthetic and maybe even a few structural changes. Slapping on a fresh coat of low-VOC paint is easy, affordable, and won't contribute to poor indoor air quality; ripping up old, off-gassing, difficult-to-recycle wall-to-wall carpeting to refinish the hardwood underneath is tougher on you and on the planet; replacing leaky, rusty, lead-leaching plumbing is a taller order yet, so be sure to "kick the tires" of the houses you're looking at, so you can get an idea of the changes you'll want or need to make to create a greener, healthier home.
Reuse, renovate, recycle
If a LEED-certified, solar-powered penthouse downtown remains just out of reach, consider looking for place that will benefit from a upgraded green kitchen or bathroom -- the two rooms where you typically get the best return for your renovating dollar. As long as it doesn't need major structural repairs, or you don't have to gut the place to get the rooms and layout you want, you can renovate according to your ecological principles and get a double bonus: a greener, more efficient home and a higher resale value (market-willing) upon your departure. Just be aware of the work involved, prioritize to get the best bang for your buck, and don't get carried away with romantic notions of a grand marble staircase, an all-red billiard room with a giant stuffed camel and a disco room with your own disco dancers. Renovating is hard work -- get more tips on green renovation before you get going -- but the rewards can be substantial; you might even achieve LEED Proactinium.
Research your renewable-energy potential
Until recently, generating your own power was out-of-the-question expensive for most of us. As the costs of alternative technologies like solar, wind, or geo-thermal power come down, they're becoming easier to find and easier to afford. If your dream home isn't already plugged in to off-grid technology, don't fret; you can discover your renewable energy potential to see if it makes sense to generate some or all of your own power, and then check in with DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency to see what sort of rebates and deals are available in your state.
Certifiable!
LEED-H, or LEED for Homes, just released final guidelines for their residential green building certification in January, which means there aren't a ton out there right now (we spotted the first one in the western US), though about 400 builders representing 10,000 homes across the U.S. participated in the LEED for Homes pilot program (you can find your local LEED for Homes provider here). And, if you're looking in New England, Energy Star Homes certify that homes meet the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) performance guidelines for energy efficiency. They're two programs on the rise, so be on the lookout for more green homes from both of them (and read more below in the "Getting Techie" section). For now, there's lots of best practices to glean from both programs' guidelines and principles.
Shade grown?
Trees are good for a lot more than hugging, so take a peek outside your potential new digs to check out the foliage the comes with the place. Big deciduous (leafy) trees are great natural climate controllers; in the summer, their leafy branches block the sun and can help keep your home cooler (reducing cooling costs), and, in the winter, the bare branches let more natural light and heat through to your home (reducing heating costs). Big old trees also offer potential homes for our fine feathered friends, who can be helpful in maintaining your organic garden. Your neighborhood's biodiversity will benefit, too.
More great outdoors
Ask yourself a couple more questions: Is there is big lawn that requires care (and lots of water) to maintain? (Remember, this isn't always up to you; some neighborhoods have homeowners' association rules that requires a certain level of lawn manicuring.) Is there a good, sunny place for a garden, to grow your own food, or is there a good space for some good container gardening? Will you have room for a compost pile, or just a small compost bin? Read up on How to Green Your Gardening and match your potential homes with the size of your green thumb. Go to Source of this great article.
Sign up today.
Subscribe to Best Buying Tips by Email
Tell your friends about us.
Not long ago, if you’d have told your realtor that you were looking for a green house, they'd have handed you a gallon or two of emerald-hued paint. Nowadays, with increased eco-awareness and energy prices going through the roof, it's not just us TreeHuggers that are worried about things like indoor air quality and energy efficiency. When screening potential realtors, ask them how much they know about home energy performance and other environmental issues that matter to you. Alternately, services like EcoBroker, Modern Green Living, and other green residential tips can help you seek out a green real estate pro. Learn more about what to look for in a green realtor in our post on Verdant Vocations: A Real Estate Agent?
Conduct an energy audit
If your green realtor is on their game, this one will go without saying, but it's not an automatic. You can tell a lot just by taking a careful look around. Check out the heating and cooling systems carefully and make sure they are in good working order and sized appropriately. Take a gander at the windows, and check if they're single or double-paned, and at the doors, to see if you feel a draft coming through around the edges. Be on the lookout for missing or inadequate insulation, or signs of mold. To get really good info, though, we recommend hiring a professional for your audit. They'll use things like infrared cameras and special fans to pressurize your house and determine how leaky it is; this will help you determine if your potential new house needs any big efficiency upgrades, and if something like new insulation will make sense. Sister site Planet Green has more info on the benefits of a home energy audit.
Remember: location, location, location
New Yorkers have the some of the lowest ecological footprints in the United States, and it's not because they are all amazingly eco-conscientious. Rather, it's because they tend to live close to shops, entertainment, and places of work. If they don't live close to all those things, they live close to a subway or a bus line that will take them to these locations. The lesson here? Choose your location carefully. Even if the countryside is definitely for you, it's worth thinking about commuting distances, proximity of local facilities, and how you are going to get around. How to begin? Visit Walk Score to locate restaurants, parks, grocers and other businesses and amenities within walking distance of your possible future home.
Buy small, live large
It's the closest thing TreeHugger has to a mantra: small really is the new big, and less is the new more. The smaller your living space, the less energy is needed to heat and light it, and the less you have to spend on utilities too. With some thoughtful, careful interior design, you can create beautiful living environments out of some surprisingly small spaces; we recommend multi-functional and transformer furniture to help you get the most out of your space.
Kick the tires
Unless you really luck out, your new home will almost certainly require a few aesthetic and maybe even a few structural changes. Slapping on a fresh coat of low-VOC paint is easy, affordable, and won't contribute to poor indoor air quality; ripping up old, off-gassing, difficult-to-recycle wall-to-wall carpeting to refinish the hardwood underneath is tougher on you and on the planet; replacing leaky, rusty, lead-leaching plumbing is a taller order yet, so be sure to "kick the tires" of the houses you're looking at, so you can get an idea of the changes you'll want or need to make to create a greener, healthier home.
Reuse, renovate, recycle
If a LEED-certified, solar-powered penthouse downtown remains just out of reach, consider looking for place that will benefit from a upgraded green kitchen or bathroom -- the two rooms where you typically get the best return for your renovating dollar. As long as it doesn't need major structural repairs, or you don't have to gut the place to get the rooms and layout you want, you can renovate according to your ecological principles and get a double bonus: a greener, more efficient home and a higher resale value (market-willing) upon your departure. Just be aware of the work involved, prioritize to get the best bang for your buck, and don't get carried away with romantic notions of a grand marble staircase, an all-red billiard room with a giant stuffed camel and a disco room with your own disco dancers. Renovating is hard work -- get more tips on green renovation before you get going -- but the rewards can be substantial; you might even achieve LEED Proactinium.
Research your renewable-energy potential
Until recently, generating your own power was out-of-the-question expensive for most of us. As the costs of alternative technologies like solar, wind, or geo-thermal power come down, they're becoming easier to find and easier to afford. If your dream home isn't already plugged in to off-grid technology, don't fret; you can discover your renewable energy potential to see if it makes sense to generate some or all of your own power, and then check in with DSIRE, the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency to see what sort of rebates and deals are available in your state.
Certifiable!
LEED-H, or LEED for Homes, just released final guidelines for their residential green building certification in January, which means there aren't a ton out there right now (we spotted the first one in the western US), though about 400 builders representing 10,000 homes across the U.S. participated in the LEED for Homes pilot program (you can find your local LEED for Homes provider here). And, if you're looking in New England, Energy Star Homes certify that homes meet the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) performance guidelines for energy efficiency. They're two programs on the rise, so be on the lookout for more green homes from both of them (and read more below in the "Getting Techie" section). For now, there's lots of best practices to glean from both programs' guidelines and principles.
Shade grown?
Trees are good for a lot more than hugging, so take a peek outside your potential new digs to check out the foliage the comes with the place. Big deciduous (leafy) trees are great natural climate controllers; in the summer, their leafy branches block the sun and can help keep your home cooler (reducing cooling costs), and, in the winter, the bare branches let more natural light and heat through to your home (reducing heating costs). Big old trees also offer potential homes for our fine feathered friends, who can be helpful in maintaining your organic garden. Your neighborhood's biodiversity will benefit, too.
More great outdoors
Ask yourself a couple more questions: Is there is big lawn that requires care (and lots of water) to maintain? (Remember, this isn't always up to you; some neighborhoods have homeowners' association rules that requires a certain level of lawn manicuring.) Is there a good, sunny place for a garden, to grow your own food, or is there a good space for some good container gardening? Will you have room for a compost pile, or just a small compost bin? Read up on How to Green Your Gardening and match your potential homes with the size of your green thumb. Go to Source of this great article.
Sign up today.
Subscribe to Best Buying Tips by Email
Tell your friends about us.
PC World-Laptop Buying Guide
PC World - From petite netbooks to massive desktop replacements, laptops are made for different needs. Follow the tips in this buying guide, and you can meet the notebook of your dreams.
Of course, to find your ideal travel companion, you have to be honest about your personality. So here's a little quiz--what kind of laptop user are you?
Q. Do you want to write a few e-mail messages or surf the Web while listening to some music? Figure out the family budget? Watch a DVD movie or two?
A. You're an average Joe. Read our recommendations for all-purpose laptops.
Q. Are you on the lookout for a no-compromise laptop that will power through the day while staying true to the bottom line?
A. Mr. or Ms. Corporate Raider, your meeting with the perfect business laptop starts now.
Q. Regardless of whether you're on permanent vacation or traveling for work, do you want power and a light load? Above all, must it be stylish?
A. Jet-setter, your ultraportable laptop is ready for takeoff.
Q. Late to class? Again? Are you faced with overstuffed bags and an understuffed wallet?
A. Student, it's time to do your homework and learn about netbooks.
Q. Forum know-it-all? Multimedia junkie? Action addict? Do you want only the best of the best? Is "Nerd" printed on your business card?
A. Gamer, find out more about desktop replacements that are prepared to play.
Q. Do you want a tough portable that can work well outdoors and handle unusual conditions? Are you searching for a convertible PC that can offer a stylus- or touch-based interface for taking notes?
A. You have specialized needs. See our advice about ruggedized laptops and tablet PCs.
Go directly to PCworld
Sign up today.
Subscribe to Best Buying Tips by Email
Tell your friends about us.
Of course, to find your ideal travel companion, you have to be honest about your personality. So here's a little quiz--what kind of laptop user are you?
Q. Do you want to write a few e-mail messages or surf the Web while listening to some music? Figure out the family budget? Watch a DVD movie or two?
A. You're an average Joe. Read our recommendations for all-purpose laptops.
Q. Are you on the lookout for a no-compromise laptop that will power through the day while staying true to the bottom line?
A. Mr. or Ms. Corporate Raider, your meeting with the perfect business laptop starts now.
Q. Regardless of whether you're on permanent vacation or traveling for work, do you want power and a light load? Above all, must it be stylish?
A. Jet-setter, your ultraportable laptop is ready for takeoff.
Q. Late to class? Again? Are you faced with overstuffed bags and an understuffed wallet?
A. Student, it's time to do your homework and learn about netbooks.
Q. Forum know-it-all? Multimedia junkie? Action addict? Do you want only the best of the best? Is "Nerd" printed on your business card?
A. Gamer, find out more about desktop replacements that are prepared to play.
Q. Do you want a tough portable that can work well outdoors and handle unusual conditions? Are you searching for a convertible PC that can offer a stylus- or touch-based interface for taking notes?
A. You have specialized needs. See our advice about ruggedized laptops and tablet PCs.
Go directly to PCworld
Sign up today.
Subscribe to Best Buying Tips by Email
Tell your friends about us.
Plasma & Flat Screen TV Buying Tips
If you're looking for a flat screen TV picture that provides excellent picture quality with low picture distortion then a Plasma Screen TV monitor is the solution you have been seeking.
There are currently a large number of Plasma Televisions available on the market which can be used for a number of different applications including presentations, home video and computer uses. Below are some features that can help you differentiate between the different plasma tv models. Please select from the following options: Click Here
There are currently a large number of Plasma Televisions available on the market which can be used for a number of different applications including presentations, home video and computer uses. Below are some features that can help you differentiate between the different plasma tv models. Please select from the following options: Click Here
Home Buying
Follow our six step home buying guide: a roadmap that takes the first time home buyer from "how much can you afford" to "Buying the home and moving in."
Before you start your hunt to buy a new home, review your monthly income, expenses and total savings. No savings? ..find a relative, friend or employer who might help with a loan for home buying. More on how much you can pay for a new home.
The secret to buying a home is finding a house in a neighborhood you love: that includes low crime rate, great schools and increasing home value. More on buying a home in the right neighborhood.
Selling a home without an agent? Get FREE step by step instructions.Get the right mortgage loan and be a happy first time home buyer: buy the new or pre-owned home you love. More on getting a morgage loan to buy a home.
Buying a new home means as much, or more inspection than buying a pre-owned home. Consider hiring a professional home inspector. More on selecting the best home to buy.
Found the house you love?
Find the selling price of similar homes in the neighborhood and don't pay much more. More on buying a home at the right price..
The final details of buying a new or pre-owned home take place on closing day when the purchase price is paid and title is transferred from the seller to the buyer. In most states the mortgage lender's attorney or a title agent will handle the closing details and protect buyer and seller rights as a neutral 3rd party. More on closing details..
The best source on the net for home tips
Before you start your hunt to buy a new home, review your monthly income, expenses and total savings. No savings? ..find a relative, friend or employer who might help with a loan for home buying. More on how much you can pay for a new home.
The secret to buying a home is finding a house in a neighborhood you love: that includes low crime rate, great schools and increasing home value. More on buying a home in the right neighborhood.
Selling a home without an agent? Get FREE step by step instructions.Get the right mortgage loan and be a happy first time home buyer: buy the new or pre-owned home you love. More on getting a morgage loan to buy a home.
Buying a new home means as much, or more inspection than buying a pre-owned home. Consider hiring a professional home inspector. More on selecting the best home to buy.
Found the house you love?
Find the selling price of similar homes in the neighborhood and don't pay much more. More on buying a home at the right price..
The final details of buying a new or pre-owned home take place on closing day when the purchase price is paid and title is transferred from the seller to the buyer. In most states the mortgage lender's attorney or a title agent will handle the closing details and protect buyer and seller rights as a neutral 3rd party. More on closing details..
The best source on the net for home tips
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