How to Reduce Indoor Air Pollutants in Your Home

When you think of indoor pollution, those grotesque, blown-up images of dust mites might come to mind. Tiny bugs living in our mattresses are only one source of pollution, however. Different types of indoor pollution include air and water pollutants, cleaning products and cosmetics.

Most of us think of our home as a haven - a safe place where we are protected from the rest of the world. But sometimes extra care needs to be taken to create a healthy home.

What Causes Indoor Air Pollution?

While we might be wary of smog and acid rain, outdoor pollutants probably don't affect us nearly as much as indoor pollutants do. Concentrations of indoor pollutants are 25 to 62 percent greater than outdoor levels. Because Americans spend 80 to 90 percent of their time indoors, they're at risk for serious health problems.

Sources of air pollution include wood-burning stoves, tobacco smoke, cooking and heating appliances, and vapors from building materials, and furniture. Paints, sealants, and other finishes can also be harmful. Radon, a radioactive gas that's released from inside the earth, is also a pollutant, and can be found concentrated in some basements.

Reducing Indoor Air Pollution

Many of the products we use every day generate indoor air pollution. One of the best ways to improve indoor air quality is to eliminate the sources of the pollution.

• Choose non-toxic furnishings, flooring, finishes and supplies.
• Eliminate toxic household cleaners from your home.
• Seal or enclose asbestos-coated sources.
• Provide adequate ventilation by opening windows or using fans.
• Switch to an environmentally-safe dry cleaner.
• Add some houseplants.
• Discourage smoking indoors.
• Have air ducts cleaned.
• Have lead-based paint professionally removed.
• Vent clothes dryers to outdoors.
• Remove water-damaged carpets.
• Test basements for radon gas.

Natural Pollutants

Biological contaminants are another type of pollutant that affects the indoor environment. Pet dander, dust mites and other microorganisms that occur naturally can settle in carpets and other fabrics. Bacteria, molds, mildew and insect or rodent droppings are also dangerous. These allergens can trigger allergies and sometimes lead to serious illnesses such as asthma in some people.

Use flooring options like wood, cork, tile, stone or bamboo to reduce the number of allergens in the home. These flooring materials don't emit fumes or harbor microorganisms and are easier to keep clean than carpeting.

Air purifiers and mechanical ventilation systems can help keep indoor air healthy. They can reduce levels of humidity, which creates a breeding ground for bacteria, mold and mildew. The Environmental Protection Agency recommends keeping humidity levels below 30 to 50 percent.

Check out WheatonHomes4Sale.com to browse official listing information of homes listed for sale in your area or to find out how much your home is worth.

Low Maintenance Privacy Landscaping

Privacy. Its a hot commodity in a world where we're pushed ever closer in proximity to one another.  It almost seems like a diabolical developers' cruel joke to see how many houses they can cram onto a couple of acres. 

You don't have to put up with feeling like you live in a fishbowl. There are a number of creative and low maintenance landscaping techniques that, in some cases, provide almost-instant privacy. If you do your homework before choosing landscaping materials, you can get the solitude you crave and keep the work on it to a minimum.

Baby Steps to Privacy

One of the first things you need to determine is if your Homeowners' Association has landscaping rules. Many of them do, so dig out the paperwork and pore over the CC&Rs to figure out what you can and can't do with your property.

Next, determine the amount of privacy you desire. Dense privets block most prying eyes, whereas a mix of trees and tall perennials provide a lighter touch and look more natural.

The size of the space you need to fill plays a large role in what to plant, so take measurements before heading off to the nursery.

Finally, make sure that the plants you purchase are suited to your growing zone. The United States Department of Agriculture provides a Plant Hardiness Zone Map based on the lowest temperature in a region.

In some areas of the country, such as California and Nevada, homeowners can also consult Sunset magazine's climate zones. Unlike the USDA map, Sunset uses rainfall, high and low temperatures, the length of the growing season, humidity and wind to determine plant hardiness zones.

Finally, you're always safe going with native plants that are adapted to your region and typically require less maintenance than the non-natives. Many larger cities have native plant societies that you can consult for ideas on what to use in your privacy landscape plan.

Landscaping Narrow Side Yards

Newer homes in subdivisions across the country tend to have tiny slices of vacant property between houses. There may or may not be a fence. If you don't like looking at your neighbor as you wash the dishes, choose some fast-growing columnar trees to fill the space.

Italian cypress is an ideal plant for this situation. It grows quickly (up to 3 feet per year), remains slender and requires little maintenance. The best time to plant Italian cypress is in the spring, unless you live in a warm climate. In that case, plant anytime. For a good, dense screen, plant the trees 5 to 6 feet apart.

Privacy Landscaping for Front Yards

If the front of your house is open to the world, you have options to provide privacy. Privet hedges are commonly used to screen out prying eyes, but they require a good deal of trimming and pruning to keep them in shape. Instead, consider planting evergreen shrubs and trees. If you must use deciduous plants, the experts at Colorado State University suggest you choose those with lots of stems and branches to help provide a privacy screen even after the plant loses its foliage.

Plant the trees closer to the house with the shrubs in front. To make a more natural vignette, throw some low maintenance perennials in front of the shrubs. Ideal plant choices, according to Richard Jauron of Iowa State University's Department of Horticulture, include butterfly weed or salvia for sunny locations and hosta, ferns or bleeding heart for shady spots.

Blocking the View From Above

When your neighbor has a bird's-eye view into the home or onto your deck or patio, privacy landscaping becomes a bit trickier. Large deciduous shade trees with broad spreading canopies should provide enough cover.

An arbor, or overhead latticework, allows sunshine to penetrate but blocks most of what the neighbors might be able to see. For better coverage and to soften the hard lines of the structure, plant a vine at the base and allow it to grow up and over it. Quick-growing vines that require little care include clematis, ivy and trumpet vine.

While it may be true that good fences make good neighbors, privacy fences make good neighbors disappear – at least from sight. And that is a good thing.

Elmhurst IL Foreclosure List

View all of the foreclosures listed for sale in Elmhurst by clicking the image above or simply click here. Not looking in Elmhurst? Simply visit WheatonHomes4Sale.com and search throughout Chicago land, the suburbs of NW Illinois and parts of Wisconsin and Indiana. Service and data provided by Katie Oakes with Keller Williams Premiere Properties.

How to Buy Vacant Land

Click here to view all Wheaton and Glen Ellyn Land/Acreage For Sale

The decision to actually purchase real estate is just the first of many decisions to come. When buying a home you need to decide on the what, where, when and how. Decisions to make include finding the right neighborhood, the right house, the right loan, real estate agent and home inspector. The process of buying land demands answers to the same questions, plus a lot more.

Do you want raw land or vacant land, or do you even know the difference? Raw land, since it typically lacks services, such as water, power and sewer, is typically more expensive to build on. Vacant land or vacant lots, however, still require that you perform plenty of due diligence: easements, zoning, land-use restrictions and utilities, to name a few. All that "stuff" that the developer did prior to building the homes you'll find in a subdivision, is now up to you.

Then there is the cost to build a home, if that is your plan. The cost to build will vary, according to several factors, with the following three at the top of the list:

• House design
• Quality
• Price of materials

According to C.J. Hughes, of This Old House magazine, the cost of the land and the cost to prepare it for construction shouldn't make up more than one-fourth the total cost of the construction budget. Just how will you determine that budget? Use anonline calculator to get a rough estimate of construction costs in your area.

Like most real estate transactions, if you're a property virgin, the entire process may seem like information overload. Let's break it down into bite-sized chunks.

Visit Appropriate City and County Offices

Government agencies offer a wealth of information that will speed you on your way in your due diligence. Here are a few places to start:

Planning Department

Look at the long-range land use plan to determine if anything unpleasant is in the works, such as a landfill, prison, electrical substation or a poultry or pig farm if odors bother you. Check traffic counts and ask about any upcoming road improvements. Your country property may be slated as highway-front property, so don't skip this step.

One of the most critical pieces of information will be the zoning. This will, among other things, let you know if you can even build on the land. Also, ask if the land is in a recorded subdivision as this will bear on how you can use your land.

Does the parcel have municipal water and sewage? If not, you'll need to factor in the cost of installing these items when determining the total cost of construction. Check with the health department about local sewer and water codes.

Access to the parcel is crucial. Don't assume any road is public – ask.

Assessor's Office

Here is where you'll find tax records, flood-zone boundaries and the proximity of any wetlands or other restricted use areas. You may find more information about easements and whether or not you'll require one to gain access to the property and whether someone else holds one over the property.

Financing Land

The most unpopular part of any real estate transaction has to be obtaining financing. Fortunately, you'll find a lot more owner-financing deals in the land arena than that of the single-family residence.

Other ways to finance the land purchase include obtaining a home equity loan on your current house, community banks and the government. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) offers loans for vacant land, provided you are building a single-family residence on the land right away, according to Elias Askins with the USDA Rural Development office in Clark County, Nev.

If you're stumped about where to go for financing, ask your real estate agent or the title insurance reps in your area.

Choose a Qualified Real Estate Agent

When it comes to choosing a real estate agent, interviewing several is critical when you want to purchase land. The process is entirely different than buying a single-family home and requires a different set of real estate skills and knowledge.

Look for an agent who specializes in and has lots of experience with selling land. A bonus is finding an agent with construction credentials; he or she will be better able to counsel you about the building aspect of the land purchase.

The most important thing to remember during the purchase process is to not fall in love at first site with any parcel. You never know what lurks behind the public records until you peruse them, so, no matter how ideal a property seems, try to remain emotionally detached while lot shopping.

The Wheaton and Glen Ellyn area currently have 76 pieces of land for sale. To view land for sale in these and other areas, click on the image below or head to WheatonHomes4Sale.com.

Does Flooring Add to the Value of the Home?

Choosing flooring that adds value!

Real estate agents and brokers from Palm Springs, Calif. to Nashville, Tenn. and Garden City, N.Y. can be found online encouraging homeowners to rip up the carpet and replace it with tile or hardwood flooring to increase the value of their homes. But does flooring really add value? New flooring can add a ton of perceived value, encourage higher offers, and even make a home sell faster, but it may not add dollars to your appraisal. Buyers may like the updated flooring and offer more as a result, but don't expect a higher appraised value. The potential exception to this is if an appraiser considers the overall condition of the home has been raised from poor or average to good with the addition of new flooring.  So sellers, be warned. However, it is important to point out that some picky buyers have been known to run from homes just because they didn't like the pink carpet in the third bedroom.

WHAT FLOORING ISSUES SHOULD BUYERS LOOK FOR?

The lesson here for home buyers is not to fall head over heels in love with the flooring and end up over bidding for a home only to lose the deal because the appraisal won't support it. Flooring is probably one of the easiest and most inexpensive home improvements of its size. So if you love the rest of the home, pause and do the math. What is critical for buyers to pay attention to is the quality of the flooring installation. If shoddy work was done, who knows what else was skimped on that could cost you more money later. Underlay is especially important - it may look great from the surface, but if underlay wasn't properly installed, your flooring could quickly become a nightmare.

WHAT SHOULD SELLERS DO TO THEIR FLOORS?

Sellers should of course consider repairing or replacing the flooring when it is badly damaged. However, this doesn't mean you should go overboard. Depending on the circumstances and condition of the flooring, offering to install custom flooring or giving buyers a credit at closing could make more sense, especially if you are tight on funds.

WHICH FLOORING OPTIONS HAVE THE BEST RETURN ON INVESTMENT (ROI)?

If you really must replace your flooring and budget isn't an issue, does a specific type of flooring add more value? Of course, the best answer really comes down to where you live, the styles of the moment and which rooms you are remodeling. Debbie Gartner, aka "The Flooring Girl" of Westchester, N.Y., tells her clients with hardwood floors that refinishing them is one of the best moves they can make, adjusting the flooring to fit their style with new tones and finishes. Insiders of the house flipping game will probably tell you that switching to Berber carpet in the bedrooms, affordable tile or laminate faux wood flooring in the living areas, and possibly higher grade marble in small bathrooms makes for the perfect recipe for both rentals and resales - delivering a high visual impact, great ROI and best value for the new owners.

4 HOT FLOORING TRENDS TO CONSIDER -- If money is not an issue

          1.      Concrete (stained, colored or stamped)

          2.     Bamboo

          3.     Cork

          4.     Sustainable, ethical or healthier flooring ideas including Marmoleum and recycled carpet.

4 TIPS TO MAKE YOUR FLOORING PROJECT MORE AFFORDABLE

If you've decided to upgrade your flooring, these ideas may help you maximize your budget:

1               1.  Ask contractors if they have access to cheaper flooring.

                 2.  Shop online.

                 3.  Look for specialty warehouses and clearance centers.

                 4.  Learn how to install it yourself.

    Start looking for your next dream home now for free at WheatonHomes4Sale.com!

    Service and information provided by Katie Oakes with Keller Williams. 

Bloomingdale Housing Market: August 2012

Signs and data are looking up for the year over statistics coming in from Bloomingdale, IL. From July 2011 to July 2012, homes for sale in Bloomingdale are down about 33% indicating a shrinkage of the general inventory. In the same time frame properties under contract (waiting to close) are up about 215% and housing units that have closed are up about 92%. These are staggering numbers showing that properties are selling at a much higher rate year over than a year ago. Over the coming months as the large number of homes under contract begin to close, we can only expect that the percentage of homes sold will continue to increase. This information indicates that we may have hit rock bottom in pricing, so if you are looking to take advantage of these low interest rates before prices increase stop by WheatonHomes4Sale.com now and start browsing homes for free!

Information and services provided by Katie Oakes with Keller Williams Premiere Properties.

Buying a Home Debt-Free

Really want to own a home of your own, or take advantage of the many great real estate investment opportunities available here in Wheaton and Glen Ellyn and the surrounding areas but don't want to join the ranks of the millions of underwater homeowners out there or have the stress of meeting a mortgage payment every month?

The Pros and Cons of Saving to Buy a House With Cash

During the hot housing market of the early 2000s, trying to save up enough money to buy a home with cash seemed like an exercise in futility as home prices frequently jumped tens of thousands of dollars. Now things are a little different.

Paying cash for a home can be a smart move, especially for those who are extra sensitive to stress and can't handle the knocks on the door or endless harassing phone calls from lenders when the monthly bills can't be met. Who wants to be afraid to check their own mail?

Perhaps the one great thing that has come out of the foreclosure crisis is the availability of so many inexpensive homes. There are homes and condos all over the country, even in some of the hottest resort areas on the market for as little as $10,000. Even just saving $1,000 a month for the next year could solve your problem of how to buy a house debt free. Plus, coming in with a cash offer and being able to close quickly normally means more bargaining power and even lower prices.

However, not everyone is going to be satisfied with living in a $10,000, one-bedroom condo. Plus, the biggest con of waiting and trying to save up the cash to buy a home outright is that rising prices can quickly mean paying far more for the same home or being priced out of the market altogether. Make sure you weigh carefully the benefits of waiting versus taking out a mortgage now.

How to Buy a House Debt Free Next Weekend!

If waiting just isn't an option, or you simply lack the patience, there is a way you could land a home for less than this week's paycheck by this weekend - real estate auctions.

We aren't talking about the typical auctions in every county, which have been hyped up by real estate "gurus" and are no longer a great source of deals. If you really know what you are doing, have plenty of cash and are willing to risk buying a complete tear-down, okay. Otherwise, you will want to seek out auctions in specific areas of the country where the housing market has been hit the hardest.

In some areas, you could own half a block for less than taking the family out to dinner. You'll just have to sit on the investment for 10 years until the area is revitalized, or try to turn around and sell quickly.

How to Buy a Home and Get Debt Free Quickly

If you already own a home and have equity in it you could decide to sell, downsize and purchase a new home for cash. If this isn't an option, and you are tired of making your landlord rich, there are a number of ways to buy a home now and pay off a mortgage faster.

Leveraging your home purchase with a mortgage isn't always a bad thing. With interest rates and home prices so low this is the optimal time to buy, and locking into a great deal now can help you accumulate a lot of equity through appreciation. In fact, some homeowners who could afford to be debt free choose to maintain a mortgage for the tax benefits and deductions. Just recognize the difference between good debt and bad debt, and don't sink yourself with too much of it.

There are a number of ways to pay down your loan faster to become debt free far sooner than 30 years from now. Maybe one of these ideas is right for you.

1. Make bi-weekly mortgage payments.
2. Take a shorter loan term with a lower rate. Ask about 20- or 15-year fixed loans.
3. Take out an interest-only loan and do one of the following:
a. Pay down principal with commissions or bonuses.
b. Put the difference in a higher yielding investment, and use the proceeds to offset the interest.
c. Purchase a multifamily property and apply the rents directly toward principal each month.

Start looking for your next home purchase now and visit WheatonHomes4Sale.com to view the current inventory in Illinois including parts of Indiana and Wisconsin.

Service provided by Katie Oakes at Keller Williams Premiere Properties.