Are You Doing a Green Renovation?
If so contact me and I will feature you on this blog! We can track your progress, costs, trials and tribulations while hopefully inspiring some other homeowners / homebuyers to renovate GREEN.
Jonathan Blackwell
404-551-3845
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Focus on Green Building Materials — Reclaimed Exotic Hardwood
TerraMai floors are a mixture of numerous tropical hardwood species, reclaimed from antique railroad ties and other salvage sources in Southeast Asia. Our floors are used in residential, municipal and commercial applications where environmentally responsible, beautiful, stable and durable solid wood is desired.
TerraMai flooring can easily be used in kitchens and bathrooms, providing it is professionally installed, finished and sealed for moisture control. TerraMai flooring can also be used over concrete slab floors and with radiant heat systems, using industry-accepted techniques. Specific product recommendations are available upon request.
Composition and Materials
TerraMai flooring is a genuine, unfinished, solid wood product composed of a variety of reclaimed tropical hardwoods. It is likely to include Asian rosewood, merbau, ironwood, padauk, chengal, takien, narra as well as other species. Latin names of the dominant species are available upon request and on our web site. TerraMai flooring provides a beautiful and resilient floor under light or heavy wear. Every variety in the species mix is hard fibered, minimizing slivering and splintering. TerraMai flooring polishes with use (under friction) actually increasing its wear resistance.
Color
TerraMai flooring can be purchased in a random color mix (Jungle Mix) or color sorted to create floors of a generally distinct hue (ie. Rose, Gold, Cinnamon and Blonde Mix). All mixes will contain a variety of species and colors. Color can vary widely within any given species of tropical hardwood. TerraMai floors offer a wider spectrum of color than a single species floor. Due to size limitations and the natural variation in wood, TerraMai samples cannot be guaranteed to represent all color possibilities. Lighting and room color can also change the perception of hardwood floor coloration. Wood color will change when finish is applied.
Our exotic reclaimed woods include:
- Teak
- Tropical Mixes (Cinnamon Mix, Gold Mix, Jungle Mix, Rose Mix)
- Hevea
Teak
Our Teak is approximately 50 to 100 years old, reclaimed from pilings under structures in northern Thailand, Burma and Laos slated for demolition. Age and environment have seasoned this wood into an incredible swirl of mellow browns, tans and silvers.
This wood begs to be touched. Plantation grown wood cannot compare.
Cinnamon Mix
A blend of our darkest woods running from musty golds to deep chocolate browns. It is comprised of Merbau, Alan Batu, Sepetir and Ironwood reclaimed from antique railway ties.
Cinnamon Mix offers steadfast durability and features the rich inviting warmth that only the finest antique rainforest woods can achieve.
Gold Mix
Gold Mix has a rich amber hue distinct from any other hardwoods. Oxide stains, seasoning checks and spike holes imbue Gold Mix with history and character, denoting the untreated hardwood railroad ties that are its source.
Comprised of Keledang, Balau, Giam and Chengal.
Jungle Mix
Inspired by the vibrant, random array of colors found in our Asian hardwoods, we have mixed bright roses, muted golds and chocolate browns to create a playful and unpredictable grab bag of marvelous looking wood.
Rose Mix
Rosewood railroad ties? In Thailand, they used what they had and what they had was Rosewood! This amazing blend may also contain Pyinkado and Narra and other rose-toned species.
Burgundies, pinks and purples laced with gold create a deep, plush patina. Laden with character this mix is one of our most rare and most desired.
Hevea
Our Hevea flooring is produced from “orchard salvage” - from rubber tree plantations of Southeast Asia.
After about 25 years of producing latex for the rubber industry, rubber trees are culled from the plantation and replaced. The wood from these trees is utilized to produce our Hevea flooring.
It is similar in appearance to Oak and nearly as hard as Teak. It is available as either an unfinished or a pre-finished product, and for those desiring a custom color, Hevea takes a stain nicely.
Thanks to the great people at GreenHomeGuide.com
http://www.greenhomeguide.com/index.php/product_detail/563/C113
Want to Go Green at Home? Don’t Build New, RENOVATE!
Think about it. Even if you make your new construction project as green as possible, you are still using new materials instead of reusing and recycling old ones. Not to mention with the current real estate market, the availability of new construction financing in comparison to the affordability of renovation financing and the fact that existing housing stock in disrepair can be purchased at discounted prices, this is really a no-brainer. If green is truly important to you then you will renovate instead of building new.
Jonathan Blackwell
404-551-3845
Creative Uses for the $7500 Tax Credit
Creative Uses For the $7500 Tax Credit
By James Duffy
The buzz about the Housing Stimulus Bill that President Bush signed into law last month is the $7500 tax credit that First time homebuyers receive now through July, 2009. The bill, H.R 3221 bill was signed into law in July. There was a lot of content in that nearly 800 page bill, but one of the nicest, if you don’t own a home already, is that First Time Homebuyers will get a tax credit of up to $7500, in the year they purchase the home, if purchased between this past April 9, 2008 - July 1, 2009.
This $7500 gift will be phased out for single filers making $75K a year or more, up to $95K when there is no tax credit. Married folks, that is $150K, and the credit phases out by $170K earnings per year.
The bad news: You will have to pay this tax credit back in equal installments of $500/year for 15 years. Consider it an interest-free loan from the government, recouped a bit at a time each April 15. If you sell your home before 15 years, then the balance will be recouped that year.
Although, there are some caveats to that. If you sell the home before 15 years and no there has been no appreciation, it is forgiven. If you die before 15 years, the loan is forgiven, it is not passed on to your heirs. Well, at least you have that going for you!
Yeah, okay, it is a tax credit that is really just a no interest loan to be repaid over the next 15 years. What good is that? Well, here’s 3 ways it can be good.
STRATEGY 1: Use the $7500 tax credit to pay down debt. Now is a terrific time to buy a home, and the tax credit just makes it easier and more attractive. That said, too often I find young, first time homebuyers around Atlanta eagerly get into a home, with good financing. But, they bring a couple credit cards along with them, and with that burden, the house is a point of stress rather than a home that is a source of joy.
So, now’s your chance. If you are wanting to buy that home but just cannot seem to off-load that credit card, then take a good, hard look at this opportunity. If it is right for you, then jump at it. If you are not quite sure, you can call me and we can see, or you can call your CPA and check it out from that angle.
That all comes back to my 4 Step Priority of Cash Flow that I teach first time buyers. Here is your opportunity to knock out steps one and two right away. Explaining the 4 Steps is a whole other article, for a future date.
STRATEGY 2: A $7500 tax credit will be a money seed that grows into a tree. This just came up with a first-time buyer in Marietta, GA who just closed on the first home for he and his wife. When I told him of the tax credit, the borrower simply stated, “We don’t need the money, and we will have to pay it back, so can we just refuse the tax credit?” Well, I don’t believe that is an option, but I suggested that, not needing the money, he and his wife take the credit when it arrives, and invest it in a conservative investment with an 8% rate of return. They are out there. I can put you in touch with a good CFP for advice, if you like.
Well, let’s see:
5 year total: $7500 becomes $10,421
10 year total: $7500 becomes $14,480
15 year total: $7500 becomes $20,120
It’s not enough to retire on, but it sure gets you a long way to Step 3 of my 4 Step Priority of Cash Flow; all on Uncle Sam. Okay, not all, you have to repay the $7500 by $500 a year, but that is at tax time each year. For a lot of folks who are W-2 income earners, it becomes a somewhat painless recovery of the funds. So, use this gift wisely.
STRATEGY 3: A $7500 tax credit can buy more home. I talk to prospective buyers often who would love to jump in and buy the home they want; but have to wait for something to happen before they can afford their dream house. Usually it is one spouse returning to work, or something along those lines.
Well, if income is set to jump within a year, and that home that you really want is just out of range, then the tax credit could make that happen for you now. Let’s assume a buyer has a payment comfort level of $1600/month. Assuming a 3% down payment the buyer can afford a home in Roswell, GA for approximately $210K. PITI on this home would be $1585 assuming a 6.5% 30 year fixed FHA mortgage.
Hypothetically the prospective home buyer could use the tax credit to increase their monthly housing budget allowance from $1600/month to $2200/month and still be within their comfort range for the 1st year. Remember, the tax credit will effectively put $625/month into their checkbook for the 1st 12 months.
“Yeah, but that only appears next April. That’s not fair math. I won’t see that money for months!”, you might be screaming. No, you can adjust your W-4 withholdings, and bring home more out of each paycheck to cover the payment until the spouse goes back to work next year. Simple. (*As always, consult with a tax professional, etc.)
How much more home would a $625 monthly budget buy? About $90,000.
You don’t like the $210K home and can’t see staying in it long term. How about the $300K home? Now we’re talking. Just be careful with this strategy. Like the Force, use it wisely.
Jim Duffy is a Mortgage Banker with Phoenix Global Mortgage in Atlanta, GA, and has helped thousands finance their homes over the years. Check out his blog, http://www.MortgageLenderAtlanta.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?Creative-Uses-For-the-$7500-Tax-Credit&id=1451063
Jonathan Blackwell
404-551-3845
Focus on Green Building Materials — Terrazzo
Terrazzo, used by the ancient Romans, is one of the oldest building materials on earth. It’s use was one part functionality and one part beauty. However, it has fallen back in favor recently due to the demand to reuse and recycle materials that once might have been discarded
Originally created by Venetian construction workers as a low cost flooring material, the workers used marble chips from upscale jobs to create Terrazzo. The workers would usually set them in clay to surface the patios around their living quarters. Now construction workers have expanded the use of Terrazzo from just marble chips to materials using glass, granite and other recyclable materials.
One of the most popular Terrazzo surfaces is made from recycled glass and cast concrete. The glass used is both post consumer as well as post industrial. The final product contains 80% to 95% post-consumer recycled content, and as such, relies on the material being produced and consumed in the first place. Terrazzo is as durable as granite and less porous than marble which makes for a long lasting AND beautiful green addition to your home.
As always when selecting green building materials, look for local manufacturers to reduce transporation based pollution cost.
Jonathan Blackwell
404-551-3845