Enrique Piñeiro-Ros, founding principal and LEED Accredited Professional (a U.S. Green Building Council designation), Ros Realty, and Eduardo Piñeiro, associate broker, Ros Realty, recently attended a guided tour of the Harum-Alvarez house in Kendall, possibly South Florida’s greenest home.

“This home uses a geothermal heat pump for central air conditioning, and a composting toilet system. This can account for energy & utility bills 75% lower than comparable houses,” said Enrique.

The 2,300-square-foot-home has more than 40 extra-tall windows for efficient ventilation and two floors of wrap around porches that provide shade. The home’s design is similar to the Barnacle’s in Coconut Grove, where the air flow moves up through the lower floors into a cupola and escapes, keeping cool air flowing through the house.

“Green home building is at the forefront of architecture and Albert’s house is certainly leading the way in terms of how homes should be and will likely be built in the future. It’s very exciting to see this right in our own backyard,” said Eduardo.

The toilet/composting system uses ultra-low flush toilets, much like the ones found in yachts, using as little as a pint of water. Through the use of compartments, waste is rotated and eventually converted to composted soil for use in the garden.

“Albert Harum-Alvarez and his wife Enid are extremely gracious in opening the doors of their home to the community. Everyone should come and explore the features and benefits of this house first hand and learn what makes this home sustainable and energy efficient,” added Enrique.

For the next tour date email editor@rosrealty.com.
 

President Barack Obama signed the $787 billion economic stimulus bill, which means homeowners with drafty windows, old water heaters, or other root causes of high-energy bills may be rewarded for greener home improvements. If you were planning to do some of these improvements to save on your energy bill, you should take advantage of the tax savings.

Energy Efficient Items
Under the bill, consumers who buy and install certain products – such as energy-efficient windows, insulation, doors, roofs, and heating and cooling equipment – in their existing home and principal residence can receive a tax credit for 30% of the cost, up to $1,500, for improvements "placed in service" through December 31, 2010.

Renewable Energy Items
If homeowners are thinking of switching to renewable energy sources by installing solar energy systems, geothermal heat pumps and small wind turbines, there is no better time. Right now, with a federal tax credit of 30% of cost with no upper limit, a $24,000 investment to make your home greener and more energy efficient would generate a tax credit worth $7,200.

“This is by far the biggest incentive that the federal government has put forth in years. The best thing about it is that it rewards energy-efficiency investments that increase the value of a home, which is the direction we should all be striving for,” said Enrique Piñeiro, founding principal and broker of record, Ros Realty, and a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional.

For a complete list of items included in the Federal Tax Credit, and for information on how to apply for the Federal Tax Credit, please visit http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=tax_credits.tx_index.

Closing a deal in a desirable neighborhood can be difficult. It takes knowledge, finesse and experience to finalize what at first might seem achievable to do on your own. Many aspiring buyers (and sellers) have lost out to numerous circumstances – whether it is getting tied up in the world of permits, the inability to maintain the momentum of negotiations, or something as simple as losing out to an all-cash bidder.

Then there are all the other options to think about – short sales, bank-owned properties, foreclosures and auctions – giving buyers another reason to search more aggressively thanbefore. But how do you know which foreclosure listings are truly good deals, how often do you need to be checking for new listings and which ones should you go visit? And that’s just the beginning. Once you decide to move forward there are still a wholeslew of potential problems to derail your bid, even kill the deal.

It’s important to remember that in real estate you should never be swayed by emotion. “We encourage our clients to focus on the process, assessing theirneeds and basing decisions on what’s worked well and what has performed poorly in the market in recent months,” explains Enrique Piñeiro, FoundingPrincipal and Broker of Record, Ros Realty Group, Inc.

People find themselves in all sorts of scenarios in which they face questions having to do with real estate. Just think about the changes this last year has brought about. Having sensible advice you can trust can help put your mind at ease and give you options to think about before making the first step – whether that first step is in one month or one year from now.

It pays to have someone with experience in various types of transactions represent your interests. Call us for a free consultation and we’ll help answer all your real estate questions.

Ros Realty Group, Inc. debuted recently its new web site (www.rosrealty.com) with many new conveniences that buyers, sellers and industry personnel will find useful. The site, with an emphasis on ease of use, simplifies the search process for users and the listing process for brokers.

Built around a vast database of listings and a deep understanding of how the Internet can best serve consumers, the site features exclusive listings, floor plans and images, flexible searches and a comprehensive database of residential and commercial properties in all possible neighborhoods.“The foreclosure search is already a big hit with investorslooking for bank owned properties,” said Enrique Piñeiro, Founding Principal and Broker of Record, Ros Realty Group.

One of the new features allows consumers who create an account to select criteria for searches and be notified in real time when an offering matching their requirements becomes available. “It’s true that today people have a much better understanding of how to use the web for their real estate searches. And while few consumers are going to make a decision based solely on information acquired online, they can and do use it to narrow down their choices, compare and streamline their options,” added Eduardo Piñeiro, Associate Broker, Ros Realty Group. The site also features the different services available through Ros Realty Group. Some of these include consulting and property management.

Additionally, the site’s new blog will keep consumers in the know, with a variety of relevant topics being discussed consistently. The new site also makes it possible to email listings to friends and relatives, print a brochure of an exclusive listing, schedule a showing online, and even gain a better understanding of how to obtain a mortgage. Pay them a visit at www.rosrealty.com.