Money Magazine just ranked Chapel Hill 40th in the nation for the best small cities in terms of livability.  The criteria used in ranking cities were:  economic climate, cultural attractions, schools, crime, and recreation.  The cities that were ranked had between 50,000 to 300,000 in population.  Cary also made this list and ranked at 25.  Chapel Hill and Cary were the only cities in North Carolina to make the list.

Newsweek Magazine just announced its 2010 rankings of the top high schools in the country.  The scores are based on how hard the teachers challenge the students with advanced placement classes.  Chapel Hill and other area high schools did extremely well.  Out of 1600 schools ranked, our local schools are:

• East Chapel Hill High ranked 119,
• Chapel Hill High School ranked 219,
• Carrboro High School ranked 257,
• Woods Charter in North Chatham County ranked 108, and
• Jordan High School in Durham ranked 429.

Year-to-date, in the Triangle Area (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill:

• New listings are up 12.8%;
• Closed sales are up 18.8%;
• Median prices are down 0.9%;
• Average prices are down 1.1%;
• The list to sales price ratio is 96.4%; and
• Average Days on market is 103.

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Year-to-date, in Chatham County:

• New listings are up 9.1%;
• Closed sales are up 30.1%;
• Median prices are down 3.7%;
• Average prices are down 3.3%;
• The list to sales price ratio is 95%; and
• Average Days on market is 140.

Click here to view Team Jodi's Chapel Hill Real Estate and Durham Homes for Sale.

Click here to Search homes for sale in Chapel Hill and Durham and the surrounding Triangle NC area.

Year-to-date, in Orange County:

• New listings are up 24.3%;
• Closed sales are up 22.4%;
• Median prices are up 1.6%;
• Average prices are down 4.3%;
• The list to sales price ratio is 96.1; and
• Average Days on market is 104.

Don't forget to make TeamJodi.com a favorite so that you can see monthly updates on the Chapel Hill Real Estate market.

Click here to view Team Jodi's Chapel Hill Real Estate and Durham Homes for Sale.

Click here to Search homes for sale in Chapel Hill and Durham and the surrounding Triangle NC area.

Year-to-date, in Chapel Hill:

• New listings are up 21.4%;
• Closed sales are up 29%;
• Median prices are down 6.5%%;
• Average prices are down 11.2%;
• The list to sales price ratio is 96.3; and
• Average Days on market is 110.

Don't forget to make TeamJodi.com a favorite so that you can see monthly updates on the Chapel Hill Real Estate market.

Click here to view Team Jodi's Chapel Hill Real Estate and Durham Homes for Sale.

Click here to Search homes for sale in Chapel Hill and Durham and the surrounding Triangle NC area.

Year-to-date, in Durham:

• New listings are up 19.2%;
• Closed sales are up 12.8%;
• Median prices are down 3.0%;
• Average prices are down 4.9%;
• The list to sales price ratio is 96.7%; and
• Average Days on market is 86.

Don't forget to make TeamJodi.com a favorite so that you can see monthly updates on the Chapel Hill Real Estate market.

Click here to view Team Jodi's Chapel Hill Real Estate and Durham Homes for Sale.

Click here to Search homes for sale in Chapel Hill and Durham and the surrounding Triangle NC area.

It was obvious why the new high school building needed to be built. The nearby schools of Jordan and Riverside have been experiencing overcrowding, and the problem is only expected to grow more acute in the upcoming school year. The new school will be able to accommodate at least 800 students and even as many as 1,200.

The good news about the new school isn’t just that it will help ameliorate crowded conditions. The school building will also be good for the environment. School board leadership has plans to construct the educational facility in line with green building codes for LEED certification.

The new Durham high school is also good news for Durham real estate. New schools inevitably improve surrounding real estate conditions and prices. The new school which will be located on Duke Homestead Road and Stadium Drive is in an optimal position. Besides being close to Durham Regional Hospital, it is also close to Durham County Stadium and the Rock Quarry Park. The new school could bode well for real estate conditions in the area around the school site.

The date was extended because buyers are experiencing delays in getting their financing closed. The delays are the result of the large number of transactions that are short sales, which can take a long time to close, and the rush of transactions lenders are processing from buyers submitting contracts before the April 30 contract deadline.

The legislation, which now goes to President Obama for signature, is intended to create a seamless extension of the closing deadline. 

Money $aving

Critics of the solar hot water heater may think,  “Hey, it’s just hot water. Why go to the bother of installing a solar one?” Think about it, though. Every time you step into the shower, you spend around a dollar in energy costs alone. How many showers does your family take every day? If you have a family of four, and each family takes a medium-length shower every day, you’ll end up spending more than $1,000 every year (and probably closer to $1,500) on showers alone. Solar hot water heaters are such incredible energy-savers that some countries have gone solar in a big way. In India, Japan, China, and many European countries, solar hot water heating systems are extremely prevalent. In Israel, the law actually mandates solar hot water heating. Solar hot water heaters are not simply a  benefit for those of us that want to go green; they are a smart, savvy, earth-friendly solution to our need for hot water.

Easy to do.

Installing a solar hot water heater doesn’t require a total home renovation, a photovoltaic farm in your backyard, nor a roof coated with panels. The installation process is actually quite simple, easy, and quick. DIY-enthusiasts can have a go themselves, but the preferable option is to allow trained professionals to do the work. Within just a couple days, you can be using fresh hot water from your solar hot water heater.

 What about, [ahem!] the cost?!

I know what you’re thinking. A solar hot water heater is expensive. And you’re right. But only partially right. As is the case in purchasing many energy-efficient products today, you, the consumer, have access to a variety of finance options that do more than give you a nice loan; they actually subsidize the product in a major way. The government and many non-government organizations are intensely interested in helping you help the environment.

Here’s how we did it when we purchased a solar hot water system in May. The price tag on our solar hot water system was $9,000. We purchased our solar hot water heater by paying $1,000 down, and financed the remainder through a home energy loan from EnerBankUSA (http://www.enerbank.com/). The loan allows no payments for twelve months. Next April at tax time, we simply record the purchase, and receive 65% of the cost back through government (State and Federal) credits.  One year after the installation of the hot water heater, we will repay the loan, interest free and we will have received our credit in advance of the time we have to pay for the water heater.

Not bad for a device that saves the average American family $500 in the first year, and ever increasing amounts every year after that! Based on the major cost-savings, the ease of installation, the affordable total cost, the lifetime cost-savings, and the environmental friendliness of a solar hot water system, I highly recommend it. Trust me. I’ve done it.

I can say that our experience with NC Solar Now was excellent.  If you are interested, check out NCSolarNow.com or call Steve Nicolas at 919-493-0556.

Name: Home Performance NC

Location: P.O. Box 215
Pittsboro, NC 27312

Phone: (919) 360-1570

Web: homeperformancenc.com

Services

•   Energy audits
•   Energy ratings
•   Weatherization
•   Home improvement

Description of energy audit:

This service provides a high-level home energy audit. It includes nearly ever service available with a home energy audit including duct blower test, blower door test, infrared scanning, utility bill analysis, combustion safety testing, and multiple other tests. The cost of $350-450 includes a complete ten-page report. time required: 4-5 hours.

Name: Akhet Home Inspection Services

Location: 4900 Highway 55, Suite 160-173 Durham, NC 27713

Phone: (919) 815-9527

Web: http://www.homegauge.com/shgi/akhet/

Services:

• Home inspection
• Energy audits

Description of energy audit:

Level 1 audit:  The general audit includes a thorough visual inspection to identify major issues. Includes a blower-door testing, survey of water use, inspectiono f existing lighting, water management and safety issues, durability issues, and duct leakage test. Includes interview with owner and recommendations for improvement. Cost: $150. Time required: 2-3 hours. Include

Level 2 audit:  The advanced level audit includes all the features of the level 1 audit plus a combustion safety test, survey of home appliances and usage, home measurement and calculations, duct blaster analysis, pressure pan test, and general building diagnostics. The report includes a comprehensive analysis and recommendations: Cost: $400. Time required: 4-6 hours.

Name: Energeyes Corporation

Location: 417 Hampton Lane Youngsville, NC 27596

Phone: (919) 600-4673

Web: http://energeyesonline.com/

Services:

• Energy audits
• Home energy improvements

Description of energy audit:

Intro audit:  Inspector performs a fifty-point examination of the home including crawl space analysis, insulation inspection, etc. . No testing equipment or diagnostic tools are used, but the inspector is able to gain a basic understanding of home energy issues in order to make recommendations for homeowner to implement basic energy-saving improvements. Cost: $99. Time required: 1-3 hours.

Midrange audit:  The midrange audit includes a blower door test, duct leakage test, whole-home insulation inspection, healthy and safety inspection, ventilation examination, and other standard audit inspections. Cost: $295. Time required: 4-6 hours.

Advanced audit:  The upper-level audit provides the homeowner with everything included in the lower-cost audit, but adds infrared imaging to the examination: Cost: $395. Time required: 6-8 hours.

Name: Solar Tech South

Location: 1119 US 15 501 Hwy South, Suite 101, Chapel Hill, NC 27517

Phone: (919) 960-6015

Web: hthttp://www.solartechsouth.com/

Services:

• Solar thermal hot water system
• Solar photovoltaic systems

 Audit services: although Solar Tech South does not technically offer an audit service, per se, they are one of the leading providers of alternative energy solutions in the area. Their focus is on the installation of solar technology, specifically solar hot water systems and solar photovoltaic systems. Through a solar hot water system, homewners can save as much as a quarter of their energy bill simply by using a solar thermal system to hear their water. A solar photovoltaic systems, uses specially designed solar panels to transfer the energy of the sun into usable energy for powering the home.

In order to find out more about your options and how to get started with solar energy, Solar Tech South provides a free solar evaluation.

Under the original regulations, homebuyers were required to complete the purchase of their new home with a closing date of June 30. Obviously, with June 30 just a few days off, thousands of homeowners would have not met the tax credit deadline. Closing on a property can be frustratingly long, due to the complexity of the process and the many people involved. Applying for the tax credit added some complication to an already-long process. Some realtors estimated that one third of all the applicants for the tax credit—around 180,000 homebuyers—would have failed to close on their home by June 30, and thus would not gain the homebuyer tax credit.

The decision to extend the tax credit was an obvious one. Why should government go to all the trouble of providing a tax credit only to have thousands of applicants fall through because of a tight closing date? The havoc it would have dealt to potential homebuyers, realtors, and other segments of the market would have been severe. Now, with the tax credit extended, homebuyers can rest assured.

In order to successfully complete the tax credit process with the extended closing date, the homebuyer needs to have signed the purchase agreement on or before April 30.  This is not an extension of the credit itself but an extension of the deadline.  The tax credit extension was just what the homebuyer tax credit program needed to guarantee its success and finish well.

Apparently, a lot of other North Carolina residents think it’s a good idea. In the first four days of the Energy Star Appliance Rebate program, every cent of the fund was reserved. The program lasted from June 1, 2010 - June 4, 2010). Although that phase of the program has expired, there are more incentives to keep things green. The Residential Energy Efficient Property Credit gives you a 30% credit for purchasing and installing alternative energy sources such as solar electric systems, geothermal heat pumps, and wind turbines. If your green improvements aren’t quite that extensive, you can still get in on a tax credit of up to $1,500 through improvements as simple as replacing your front door.

Now is the time to start thinking about doing a bit of green retrofitting on your home. According to the pros, the best way to reduce CO2 emissions is to retrofit existing buildings, making them greener and more energy efficient. Studies prove that 90% of all the buildings in the U.S. are considered ‘inefficient,’ meaning that they would not pass muster under current energy requirements. That’s a whole lot of wasted energy. That’s a whole lot of wasted money. The government tax incentives are filling the cracks with cash-saving, job-providing, energy-enhancing changes to America.

What about your home? How energy efficient is it? Do you need to make your home green? Could you use a green retrofit?

Perhaps the word “retrofit” is a bit scary. It sounds like something that requires hiring a big contractor and moving to short-term housing for a few months. Not exactly. A green retrofit can be as big or as small as you want it to be. In fact, the most energy-efficient retrofits are weekend projects that don’t cost much in terms of time or money.

Retrofitting your home is the best way that you can make an impact on the environment. It’s that easy. But it’s more than that. If you make your home green, you will create a bottom-line impact in your own home energy bills. Homeowners with a bit of savvy and elbow grease have been able to slash utility bills by 50-75%, just by making a few green improvements.

Retrofitting your home is also one way that you can help our nation. As homeowners across the country make simple green improvements, we can make the path to recovery even easier, plus pad our wallets with a little extra cash. Ready to make your home green? We’ll show you some simple ways to do so.

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