Real Estate and Movers

With worries about climate change on the rise, eco-friendly homes are becoming increasingly popular in the UK. The demand for environmentally sound housing is leading constructors to source innovative alternatives to traditional building materials, including straw and even grass!

Eco building consultants ‘Home grown Home’ have designed and built a cabin using bales of straw. Located in East Yorkshire, the Straw Bale cabin has been constructed using 96 full and 46 half bales of wheat straw sourced from local farms. The bales themselves bear the weight of the roof, removing the need for a timber frame. Aside from straw, other renewable materials used include sheep’s’ wool as wall insulation and paints and oils made from plant extracts. A range of recycled materials have also been put to good use including an old barn door for beams in the lounge, reclaimed railway sleepers and even pipes from the old milking parlor.

Cliveden Village in Taplow, Buckinghamshire is a development of properties built on a prestigious National Trust estate. All 134 houses and apartments have been designed to protect the environment and maintain high ecological standards. All properties have been built from rated materials such as FSC sourced timber and recycled materials from the original brown field site. Inside the homes, the use of PVC has been voided by choosing low volatile organic chemical fittings and finishes. Other eco-friendly features include solar hot water and mechanical heat recovery systems, as well as energy efficient lighting and insulation. Water use across the estate is reduced through the use of rainwater collection and low volume fittings on taps and toilets.

Dunescape is a three floor eco-property in Camber Sands, Rye. Built in 007, the environmentally-conscious house is let to visitors as a contemporary holiday home. A grass roof soaks up rainwater and solar power provides hot water in the summer. Geothermal heat from the ground insulates the house in the winter months, ensuring guests keep warm after bracing walks on the nearby beach. Finishing touches in the property include tables made from reclaimed timber, phosphate-free natural washing up liquid, vegan toiletries and organic cotton towels.

BedZED is a carbon neutral community in Sutton, South London. Completed in 2002, the housing development comprises a total of 99 homes each specifically designed to support a sustainable lifestyle. An innovative joint venture between the Peabody Trust and environmental charity arranging, the project has won a raft of awards for its cutting edge design and impressive environmental performance. Recent figures show that BedZED residents use an average of 81% less energy on heating and 8% less water than the local average.

Ecostessey Park is a development of 22 town houses on the banks of the river Tud in Norwich. Each property is built to a demanding ecological specification and is zero carbon rated. A number of environmentally-friendly features are included as standard in each home, such as photovoltaic solar panels which allow residents to sell energy back to the National Grid. Other energy efficient features include low energy lighting and a thermostatic bath to control water temperatures.

Steel homes are becoming more popular for so many reasons today. From cost savings to durability, these metal homes offer the consumer many advantages with very few drawbacks. Despite those advantages, it can still be difficult to choose from all the steel buildings available. It’s important when you’re looking for a manufacturer that you examine the things they offer and compare them with other companies. And never go by cost savings alone as sometimes you really do get only what you pay for.

One of the best ways to find a great steel homes manufacturer is through word-of-mouth. Because many areas don’t have a large number of these homes, it’s not always easy to find someone locally who has purchased one. If you can find someone who’s purchased commercial steel buildings from a company you’re considering, that can help you. But bear in mind that there are big differences between commercial and residential metal buildings. One that might be all right for an out building or a warehouse might not be all right for your home.

Finding someone who’s purchased a commercial building from a manufacturer that also offers a steel homes at least helps you to know how easy the company is to deal with and how well they keep their promises as far as things like quality and delivery times. But don’t neglect to look into the details that the manufacturer offers as far as finishing touches that are going to be important to you on your home.

You’ll also want to make sure they offer a good warranty. are durable and long-lasting so a manufacturer should have no problem giving you a 50 year warranty on the structure. Anything that’s painted should have at least 15 to 20 years on the painted surface and be considered maintenance-free. With steel building homes, chances are that you’re going to frame the outside in some other material. But any painted surface in the construction needs to have such warranty so that you know it’s quality.

You’ll also want to make sure that steel buildings don’t require any special work on your part when it comes to getting a building permit. Every area has special building codes that account for things like roof construction, foundation construction and even things like how steep stairs can be and how many doors and windows you need. Check with your local authorities to make sure that the steel building plans you have meet local codes. Most manufacturers will guarantee that they can do this and will offer the drawings you need to present to your local authorities either in your package or as extras.

One other thing you may want to check on is how the company transports steel. Some work hard to save you money by transporting as much as possible in one load. So pieces of steel building homes that are going to several locations in a certain part of the country may be sent on the same shipment to cut costs for you.

The web has revolutionized the field of real estate like no other niche. Well, maybe excluding online dating, but you get the point. The web has allowed people to point and click instead of driving endless miles wasting time and money on the weekend. While most people know they should market online now, there is an additional step most fail to take.

The video revolution has already occurred. We all get emails from our friends about bears falling out of trees on to trampolines and so on. YouTube is the major video online site. It is also a huge potential boon for home sellers and, frankly, home buyers. The key is to understand that there are two major benefits that you really can’t get anywhere else.

Let’s imagine that you put do a video of your home in anticipate of selling it online. You go out and buy a domain. You build a small website and put the video up. How many people are going to see it? NONE! Why? Because there is no traffic coming to your site. Well, YouTube already has millions and millions of visitors every day. The traffic is already built in, so your video will actually be seen if you post it on the site.

The second key thing to understand is YouTube is owned by Google. Although Google denies any correlation, one can hardly be shocked that videos on YouTube seem to come up very high in searches on Google. If you post a video and list the title and keywords as a home for sale in your neighborhood, you stand a very good chance of appearing high in the Google results. Think of the exposure! Even better, it is all for free so long as you have a video camera.

The web has opened up an entirely new way to buy and sell property. Give it a look. You’ll be stunned at the opportunities.