Archive for the 'Home Owners' Category
Home Safety Tips Even My “Safety Dad “Can Appreciate
March 26th, 2009 categories: Central Connecticut News & Information, Home Owners
I have a nickname for my Dad…Safety Dad.
When I rented my first apartment, Safety Dad bought me a fire extinguisher.
When I bought my first house, Safety Dad bought me a home security system.
When I became a Realtor, Safety Dad gave me some pepper spray.
Robert Kiyosaki has his Rich Dad, I’ve got Safety Dad.
I think Safety Dad would approve of these tips to keep your house safe…
You may also enjoy reading:
Are We Headed for A Recession Crime Wave?
Tips to Prevent a Home Invasion
What else but…Safety Dance by Men Without Hats
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Energy Star Site Updated to Reflect Stimulus Package Changes
February 18th, 2009 categories: Home Owners
For updated information on the energy efficient tax credits in the stimulus package…
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Is Your Connecticut Real Estate Overtaxed?
February 10th, 2009 categories: Home Owners
CBS News’ Early Show had a segment on this morning to remind people to take a close look at their property’s assessment by their town to check for inaccuracies. There’s no time like the present.
An assessment is the value your town/city place on your real estate for tax collection purposes. Every few years, the town hires a company to do a revaluation and the company does an appraisal. Generally, the assessment is 70% of the value in the appraisal and you pay taxes based on the assessment (multiplied by the mill rate).
The issues with these appraisals is that more often than not, no person actually enters the home being appraised. Maybe a drive by is done but maybe not. As a result, “the inaccuracy rate on home assessments is between 30 and 50 percent, depending on the region (according to the National Taxpayers Union).”
Do you dig real estate news, tips and advice? Sniffing around for pet-related information in Connecticut? Get Unleashed - the blog that’s helping to find homes for people and pets.
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When Should You Replace Common Household Items
January 23rd, 2009 categories: Home Owners
I found this article on the Get Rich Slowly blog, orginally posted by SmartMoney.com:
Air Filters
Replace after: Six months
Why: Filters become clogged with dirt and other particles, reducing the energy efficiency of your heating and cooling systems, says Rozanne Weissman, a spokeswoman for the Alliance to Save Energy.
Fire Extinguishers
Replace after: 10 to 12 years
Why: The pressurized contents of a fire extinguisher de-pressurize over time. “Eventually, it just becomes a block of ’stuff’ inside the cylinder,” says Tom Olshanski, director of external affairs for the U.S. Fire Administration — rendering it useless in fighting fires. Extinguishers can deteriorate faster if left in a high-humidity environment. Check your extinguisher on a monthly basis for corrosion, a sure sign air is leaking out, he suggests.
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Are We Headed for a Recession Crime Wave?
November 20th, 2008 categories: Central Connecticut News & Information, Home Owners
Back in October, the New York Times had an article called “Keeping Wary Eye on Crime as Economy Sinks.” For anyone who remembers New York City in the 80s and early 90s (I almost went to NYU in 1992 - almost), the idea that we could return to a time of higher crime rates is unsettling.
Is it any coincidence that Hoffman Guns, just a few doors down from my office on the Berlin Turnpike in Newington just opened a newer and larger store and that the lot is always full? Gun sales are up and while some may attribute that to the Obama’s election and possibly tighter gun laws, I think it has just as much to do with the downturn in the economy.
From the New York Times article,
“Every recession since the late ’50s has been associated with an increase in crime and, in particular, property crime and robbery, which would be most responsive to changes in economic conditions,” said Richard Rosenfeld, a sociologist at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Typically, he said, “there is a year lag between the economic change and crime rates.”
In addition, Ken Gronbach, a Connecticut ad man turn demographer, predicted this crime wave years ago in his book, Common Census. In 2007, Gronbach posted his predictions on his blog and one of them was a crime wave due to the huge numbers of Generation Y young men coming of age with nothing to do.
From his blog,
“…a crime wave, owing to the repopulating of a segment of unemployed high risk young men in the crime committing age of fifteen to thirty. We are seeing increasing evidence of this now. This is not an anomaly. This is a trend. Generation Y, now twenty-two years old and under, will be the largest generation in the history of the United States. The peak of this generation is currently seventeen years old. It will fill the prime crime committing age of fifteen to thirty with more idle high risk young men than this nation has ever seen. It will become very difficult to live safely in the Nation’s cities. “
Burglaries are likely to be on the rise - whether you attribute it to the economy or the changing demographics. Buying a gun doesn’t suit everyone but there are several things you can do to deter burglars at your home, for example getting a dog (or just getting some dog supplies to make it seem like you have a dog), adding exterior lighting, and trimming back bushes.
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