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A new idea has taken root in Chicago—bully for that city! According to Business Week, Chicago’s Green Exchange will be the first shopping center in the U.S. for environmentally responsible and socially conscious businesses.” What a great idea!

Get this: not only will the first “green mall” in America be located in Chicago, grouping eco-friendly businesses for the first time, but the very building itself—all 250,000 square feet of it—will also be developed in accordance with LEED standards.

LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) standards were developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED System “provides benchmarks for the design, construction and operation of green buildings. . . in five key areas”, states the article, “sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality”.

Apparently, a Chicago real estate developer, Baum Development, is capitalizing on refurbishing a historic building in a great location—350,000 cars pass by the site each day. Taking care to retain the building’s historic character, while retrofitting it with a “green” roof, energy efficient systems, clean air quality, a courtyard, meeting/event community space, on-site parking with priority parking given to hybrid vehicles, will make Chicago’s Green Exchange the first of its kind.

The article cites the growing market for green building materials in this country; one that is predicted to grow from .2 billion in 2005 to between an estimated to billion by 2010, according to the National Association of Home Builders and McGraw-Hill Construction. It is now possible for many owners to build or renovate their homes or businesses in an environmentally friendly way. As materials become more readily available, many consumers will no doubt, opt to do just that.

When the economy is down you can pick up a great Parma OH home for an incredible price. The time has never been better to find yourself a great deal. It is truly a buyer’s market, and if you play your cards right you can walk away with a better price than you would have ever thought possible.

Many millionaires made their mark during the last recession. They thought big and used the state of the economy to their advantage. They thought smart and acted smart and got the rewards. It is possible to invest in Parma OH real estate now and see major profits in the near future. Think smart and profit.

There is no way that this great country will not rebound to a higher economic level. It may take time, but have no doubt; this recession will come to an end. Use it now to your advantage.

If you have enough money for a down payment for a nice house in Parma OH , why not look at downgrading your house expectations and look at purchasing two? You can have a nice rental unit on the side that will be worth more as the economy springs back into shape.

Don’t have enough for that? Consider partnering with a friend or family member to make a real estate investment in Parma OH. The time is now to do it!

Most self made millionaires started off small and worked up from there. Instant riches are not a part of real estate investment when you are first starting out on a limited budget. There are, however, unlimited opportunities in Parma OH to invest in now and see high profits in the near future.

Take a few minutes to re-evaluate your current financial situation to determine whether purchasing Parma OH property is a possibility.

Parma OH Real Estate Professional Michelle Green Offers Solid Advice for Parma OH Home Sellers

When it comes to putting your Parma OH home up for sale, it can be a very tricky experience. On the one hand, you desperately want buyers to like your home and think that you have done a good job keeping it maintained, decorating it and so forth. However, in the end you are not trying to make the buyers impressed with your decorating skills. You are attempting to get them to see that your home is the right one for their needs and wants.

One big mistake that many Parma OH home sellers make is getting emotionally involved in the process of selling real estate. They take things personally that the buyer says about their choice of draperies, for instance. An experienced real estate agent must instruct his or her sellers that they cannot take comments and opinions that buyers make personally. Everyone has different tastes when it comes to home décor.

It is best that home sellers try to be as objective as possible during contract negotiations. Sometimes buyers will make an initial offer that seems way low. Unfortunately, some sellers will take this personally and either not respond to the offer at all or they will come back at full price out of spite. Again, an experienced agent will stand in that gap and try to forge a pathway for all parties to be happy with the final result.

Buyers will often take advice from well meaning friends and family members who tell them to “come in low because you can always increase your offer.” This is bad advice as it often irritates and frustrates the seller to the point that they no longer want to negotiate with that particular buyer. It’s important that all parties treat contract negotiations in a professional and business-like manner so that everyone can be satisfied in the end.

Parma OH Real Estate Marketing Guru Michelle Green Gives You 7 Great Tips on How to Get Every Dollar You Deserve… by Getting the Full Value of Your House!

The ability to reap additional profits on the sale of your home in Parma OH can be accomplished easily enough if you make the right improvements. Many changes can provide the prospective buyer with enhanced feelings about your home, feelings of more space, more light, more rooms, more closet space, greater privacy, warmth and security.

Basic, simple and inexpensive improvements on your home in Parma OH can provide an improved emotional response in a potential buyer.

An example could be something as small as a crack in the paint on a wall. Simply by applying some plaster and touch up paint, you eliminated what may be an unstated concern that your home was poorly maintained.

Though the feeling may be unconscious, it’s just as important that the potential buyer feel an overall desire for your home.

If you are working with a small budget these simple techniques will work absolute wonders:

The Magic of Mirrors!-Mirrors can provide a greater sense of space and elegance when properly placed. Be careful not to overdo it, but when placed properly throughout your home, each area will seem larger to the potential home buyer.

Try looking in your attic or basement for any old mirrors, but be sure they have a nice frame or at least give the frame a new coat of paint. You may also want to visit a local flea market or garage sale; you can almost always get a great deal on an old mirror or two.

Putting one foot square mirrors on a closet door in the master bedroom is always an attractive touch.

How can you immediately make your house more appealing and more sellable to Parma OH buyers? In this article, we’ll go over 3 steps to quickly make your house the most attractive house possible to get the highest offer. By the end of this article, you’ll have a great idea of how to increase the perceived value of your home, so you can get the fastest sale for the highest price.

Step #1 – The Landscaping
The landscaping is an often overlooked part of creating an appealing look for your house. The front yard is the first impression a buyer gets of your home. Imagine what the buyer would think if your garden were poorly kept or in shambles? It’s likely the buyer would assume the house itself was equally uncared for. On the other hand, imagine if your garden was in pristine condition. Again, the buyer would assume the house has been kept very well and is in tip top shape.

Step #2 – Make Moderate Repairs
Everything that needs to be repaired should be repaired. Heating, electricity and water should all be in working condition. Furthermore, it’s important to fix, replace or clean the following areas:
Any grime on tiles – Appliances that don’t look new or clean – Windows or blinds that don’t look new or clean
Have your carpet steam cleaned – Paint your walls or door frames if they look old – If the counter tops or cabinets are old, consider replacing them before listing
Although it’s common for sellers to under-repair their homes prior to listing, it’s also common to over repair. One of the best ways to know just what to do and what not to do is to …

If you’re in the market for a new house plan, you’ve may have already become overwhelmed at the sheer volume of plans that are available today on both the internet and in house plan-related magazines and books.

Finding that perfect floor plan, in the perfect square footage range, matched with the perfect exterior Architectural style, can be very difficult.  Added to that may be the confusion over which type of house plan package do you actually need?

Don’t let the process overwhelm you.  Here are some tips:

- Always make sure that you purchase your house plans from a Certified Professional Building Designer (CPBD) who is a member of the American Institute of Building Design. 

Designers who have met the strict educational requirements, have suitable work experience and training in the field, and have passed the CPBD examination are highly-skilled professionals that specialize in the design and development of residential home plans.  Don’t settle for less in choosing your plans.

- If you find a house plan that fits “most” of your needs but not all, its typically quicker, better, and cheaper to have the actual designer of the house plans make these modifications for you, where possible.

- If you live in an area with unique building code requirements (i.e. hurricane/earthquake prone areas of the US) or specific state-licensed Architect/Engineer stamping requirements, then you may need to have the modifications done by a local professional.  In this case, you would need to purchase a stock house plan package that comes with a “modifiable” license.  The packages that come with this type license include:  CAD Files, Reproducible/Vellum, and where available, PDF Files.

In regard to the PDF File plan package, a small number of leading home designers are now offering this option to their customers as a standard option. 

As someone who’s interested in investing in Parma OH real estate, you’re likely someone who sees opportunity where others see a falling market. The reality is that a “bad” means it’s the best time to invest. In this article, I’ll show you why now is the best time to invest in Parma OH real estate.

The old adage of any investment is to buy low and wait for it’s value to rise, then sell high. The real estate market is different from the stock market where when you buy a stock low you risk losing your money if the company sinks or doesn’t come back up. The reality is that real estate will always be in demand, because we’re not getting any more space and more and more people need places to live. Supply and demand dictates that over time, real estate must rise in prices.

Right now is one of the best times in history to buy because housing prices are at a historic low. Not only that, we have more foreclosers today than ever in history. As an investor, this is a huge opportunity for you.

People who can no longer afford their house still need a place to live. That means that the renter’s market is very active right now, because people are desperately looking for places to rent. In other words, housing prices are low and rent demand is high, plus the potential for your investments to go up is limitless. As an investor, what more could you hope for?

If it wasn’t clear already, the best strategy in this market is likely to be the “buy and hold” strategy. There are very few investors who can make a living by flipping properties right now. One reason is that the market could fall faster than you’d make from your flip anyway. Another reason is that there simply isn’t a good buyer’s market for you to unload your properties.

Real estate standards are lower than they were five years ago. When homes sold well, when property was developed at a rapid pace, and most important—when money was plentiful—real estate seemed to have unlimited growth potential.

Such success inspired builders, architects, and property managers to use innovative design concepts to pave the way toward a more environmentally sound future.

Green design was suddenly the rage. Builders used smarter methods, architects focused on sustainability, and owners and renters sought alternative ways to heat, cool, and keep their properties clean.

The green trend is not limited to real estate. Everyday products, food and water supplies, and automobiles began rolling out cleaner, smarter products.

A wonderful new trend was now a thriving reality. Or so we thought. The one thing, the one secret people knew but did not want to address, was that going green was expensive.

By working with green technology, companies and organizations put to good use their increased budgets. That was fine when things were good. But now, well, things aren’t so good. And that has stalled green technology and the movement it inspired.

The real estate market is especially vulnerable to the ups and downs of the economy. Unable to sell homes, builders and realtors must find ways to produce cheaper properties. Thus green building is abandoned for techniques that are considerably more affordable.

Despite the current slowdown, green technology and green building is not going to disappear. It is undoubtedly taking a hit. It is difficult to justify spending more when money is tight. But the benefits and necessity of it is undeniable. Green building and green technology is the future, and businesses must understand this. It will be interesting to see the creative ways realtors and builders implement new ways to build sustainable properties while at the same time conserve money.

Austin has long been a home for friendly folk- friendly to each other, friendly to animals, and friendly to the environment. What used to be considered as only the concerns of hippies and the bohemian sect, environmentalism is now at the forefront of commercial and residential design, and “green” businesses are popping up nationwide. Austin, however, was the first city in the United States to establish a local green-building program, laying out environmentally friendly and sustainable guidelines for home builders and its interested citizens back in 1991.

Since the Austin real estate market is known nationwide as the leader of these green building methods, the National Association of Home Builders chose the city as its hub to launch an industry-wide effort to establish green-building guidelines in 2004. These guidelines now provide a practical nationally recognized framework for builders to follow to reduce a home’s environmental impact by making them more energy efficient, improving indoor environmental quality, and so on. Though Austin has already been using similar guidelines for over a decade, now the rest of the country is following suit.

The City of Austin and Austin Energy provide a great resource to owners of Austin homes, and new home builders, who are looking for ways to conserve energy, and build an environmentally friendly home. The city’s website offers a list of companies willing to do an energy analysis of a home that will determine possible options to help the house conserve more energy, with suggestions ranging from air conditioning repair to weather stripping doors. The city then will offer a 20 to 75% of that cost.