congress wants to do an extreme make over on your house. What you do in the end might be the one paying for an inside that capita energy trade bill that passed through the house last Friday a provision that may mean. If you try to sell your house and it's not energy efficient. Which is yet to be defined by the way you may have to cough up money to fix it or -- take down the for sale sign

It's called the -- REEP That's the retro fit for energy and environment our performance program what does that mean for homeowners if it's fully implemented. You're probably not going to be able to sell your house if it's an older home. Within having to spend thousands maybe tens of thousands of dollars to bring in up to some of these more radical green standards.

Call you senators

Weight Loss Benefits of Mowing Lawns

Mowing the lawn is a good way to workout and burn excess calories. In terms of calorie output, about 15 minutes of lawn mowing burns about 115 calories. Over 12 months, this daily lawn mowing workout uses up a total of 41,975 calories per year: the equivalent of 12 pounds of body weight.

Mowing Lawn: Fitness and Health Benefits

Mowing the lawn doesn't just help you to burn calories, it also helps keep your weight under control, strengthens bones and reduces the risk of developing weight related illnesses.

  

really thought it was common knowledge by now that when you want to buy real estate the place to start is the bank. The first thing we do is go to the bank to get pre-qualified, right? But very few "buyers" who have called me in the last year or two have done that. Just yesterday I talked to a gentleman who just recently lost his home to foreclosure. He said the mortgage was just in his name, so now they are looking to buy a house in just his wife's name. He was calling about a specific property and wanted directions so they could go look at it. He said he didn't know if his wife would qualify for a home loan based on her income alone or not.

Buyers - please, please go to the bank and get pre-qualified before you call an agent to look at properties. If you don't, you are very likely to find a property you love and then find out you are unable to buy it. On top of that, sellers these days want a copy of the qualification letter attached to offers on their property - and I would too, wouldn't you? The man I mentioned above was concerned about the bank pulling credit and turning them down, then he'd have to go to another bank and they'd pull credit too, lowering the credit score. My feeling is that if you go to a reputable lender in today's market and they turn you down, the search should stop there. Bouncing around from lender to lender till you find someone who will approve you is partly what got us in the mess we are in.

So, the moral of this post is "Do your homework BEFORE you look at homes." Put the time in up front to determine 1) whether you are in a position to buy a home or not, 2) what price range you need to be looking in, and 3) what type of loan you qualify for and how much out of pocket money you need. If you don't know a good lender, make that call to the agent - but instead of asking to look at properties, ask them to help you get pre-qualified.

This is just common sense, folks, be smart and go into the home buying process with your eyes open, armed with the confidence that you are indeed able to purchase a home by working with your lender FIRST - you want to have an awareness of where your financial comfort zone is so you are not facing foreclosure as well.

Pam Turner

 

"Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays”

 

For those who aren’t aware (or are living under a rock) the controversy over the “political correctness” of saying “Merry Christmas” has been all over the news of late. Supposedly it’s “better” to say “Happy Holidays”. I guess that’s less offensive than “Merry Christmas”.

But right there is my beef over all this nonsense. Just how offensive can saying “Merry Christmas” possibly be???

Good grief. I wouldn’t be offended if someone came up to me and said, “Happy Hanukkah” (or Kwanzaa or Ramadan , for that matter). Nope, not offended little bit. And none of the people I know who don’t celebrate Christmas are offended in the least if someone says “Merry Christmas” to them.

This isn’t rocket science people. Say what you want. If you feel like singing out “Merry Christmas” to someone, do it! If it makes you feel better to say, “Happy Holidays”, then say that. Just don’t berate me for saying what I say, and I won’t berate you for what you prefer to say.

Forcing or forbidding certain phrases at this time of the year in the name of political correctness is just plain nuts. Let’s celebrate how we see fit. Our diverse culture is a fundamental part of this great country. We should all be able to freely express our holiday wishes in whatever way preferred. So if you get all bent out of shape at someone saying, “Merry Christmas”, relax. Get over it. In the grand scheme of things is it really that big deal?

Merry Christmas! (And a Happy New Year)