Iowa City Real Estate Blog

Another icy cold day in Coralville and Iowa City again today. Always looking for new ideas to keep my heating bills down I stumbled over a good one at the weekend at Build it Solar.

I'm sure you all know that a large amount of your heat is likely to escape through the windows. Of course if you've upgraded your windows recently to take advantage of the Government's tax credit promoting energy efficiency you may be in pretty good shape.  If you're like me though and have that on your "to do" list.

Anyway, to use a common saying around here. It is what it is... It's icy cold, I haven't updated the windows in the home I moved into in May 2009 and the windows are leaking like a sieve.  Now you've all heard about lining your windows with plastic film, right? A pretty cheap solution that requires a small time investment and works well. Freezing as I was this weekend and too tight to turn up the heat I found an even cheaper solution that takes almost no time to install and it works too... I have two words for you bubble wrap. Yes, plain old bubble wrap will do the trick.

Now of course I'm sure you're wondering how you attach it to the window. Easy, you spray the window with water, attach the bubble wrap (bubbles towards the window pane) and presto you're done. Told you it was easy, didn't I?


As you can imagine, this is not the prettiest solution in the world, so you may not want to use it in "high profile" areas. It's great for bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchens though. Also, perfectionist as I am, I'm thinking weather stripping is probably necessary around the frame to make the whole endeavor truly worthwhile. Guess who's off to Lowe's later to put that plan into action?

Safety in the home. How often do you think about it? My guess is probably not that often, it's one of those things that just gets taken for granted. It was the same for me until about a month ago when I had a fire in my home. Now I'm somewhat sensitive on the subject and am likely to be writing more frequent posts on this subject that until recently I took for granted.

Let me just give you a little background info on my fire. It was an electrical fire that started in the attic. Finding out exactly how it started was a real eye-opener - Very CSI like I have to admit. After several hours of examining the scene the fire investigator established that a wire that led to an overhead light had in all likelihood been the source of the fire. (And believe me the nick in the wire was so tiny it was barely visible without special glasses!) Was there any way I could have known I had a problem with that wire? If the light switch had been grounded it's possible that it would have tripped when I switched the light on and off. It wasn't grounded, so of course I had no idea and it was just an accident waiting to happen.

It happened and a month later I'm writing a post on signs you should watch out for to avoid an electrical fire or electrical shock in your home.

If you notice any of these danger signs in your home be sure to call a qualified electrician to check them out:

• Recurring problems with blowing fuses or tripping circuit breakers
• Tingling sensation in the fingers when you touch an electrical outlet
• Discolored wall outlets
• Sizzling sound at wall switches or outlets
• Lights that flicker
• Unusual odors coming from appliances (I'm not talking about new appliances, they often have an unusual odor during the first few times of use)

For more safety tips in the home visit www.midamericanenergy.com

A $1500 Federal Tax Credit for energy saving home improvements that save you money - That's a win - win all the way for any home owner...

The cold season is here in Iowa, at least according to the calender. Right now we're enjoying unseasonably warm weather here in Iowa City and it almost feels like spring... Don't be fooled though, winter is around the corner and now is a great time to take care of some home improvements AND lower your bills in the winter months ahead. And while you're at it, remember that you may be eligible for federal tax credits for many home improvements you make in your home that save energy...

Tax credits are available for eligible purchases at 30% of the cost up to $1,500 for 2009 and 2010. Some of the more common eligible purchases are windows and doors, insulation, heating and air-conditioning systems and water heaters. It’s already in our own best interest to buy energy star products. Why not get paid by the government for doing it?

My first tip to you if you're living in an older home in Iowa City is to check out how much insulation you have in your attic. Until recently it was standard for homes in our area to have a  3 - 4 inches of insulation in the attic. Current data shows us that we need a minimum of 10 - 14 inches, (depending on the type of insulation used), to effectively keep the heat in our homes from going up and out of the roof. In fact, adding just 10 inches of insulation is likely to save us 20% on heating cost. Insulation is pretty cheap, so we're talking a good bang for the buck here!

Now before you rush off to spend money on home improvements, we know we can rely on the government to complicate the process when it comes to the eligibility requirements for this credit, so the best thing is to do is go to the government's EnergyStar Website and check out exactly what qualifies for the credit. Just as an example, the standard required for windows in 2009 is different to 2010 (!)

Below are some of the basic requirements as far as the standard type of home improvement I’m talking about in this post. There are different time lines and requirements for solar, wind and geo-thermal energy that I’m not going into here. You’ll find more info about that on the EnergyStar Website.

• The tax credit is available for products “placed in service” from January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2010
• Eligible on improvements to the homeowners primary residence only
• Installation costs are not eligible for the tax credit
• A total of $1500 can be claimed in the two year period 2009 through 2010

The Secret to a Better Lawn...And how to achieve it with minimum time and effort!

Many of us are not crazy about yard work, but love a nice yard. My pet project for this year has been to see how I can go about getting to the nice yard without putting any particular effort into it...And the good news is that it's turning out to be a lot easier than thought!

A nice lawn of course is the center piece of any yard and usually the biggest headache for most home owners.

So what's the secret to a better lawn? As usual for these kinds of secrets it's not really a secret at all. All you need to do is make sure your grass has good strong roots. If there's a secret, then it's to work on it NOW and not in the spring. If you feed the roots so they become strong over the winter months the grass will be able to take care of itself when the spring rolls around and those pesky weeds start trying to run the show.

Fact is, particularly when it comes to lawn care anything you do now will benefit your yard much more than all the work you do catching up with yourself in the springtime.

I moved into my new home in the summer and have my work cut out for me with bringing my lawn up to par with the neighbors! I did some serious research online and it seems the best lawns can be had with minimum effort. An older post from Paul Wheaton, Organic Lawn Care for the Cheap and Lazy is hugely entertaining, while being extremely helpful. The link to Cornell University Gardening Resources is equally helpful with step by step guides on common lawn and yard care issues. 

I started by mowing high all summer with my new electric mulching mower. (Mowing high meant I only needed to mow every 2 - 3 weeks). Mulching works great and leaving the clippings on the lawn works better than I expected. According to the experts earthworms work the clippings back into the ground providing nutrition for the lawn.  It's worked out pretty well, although my neighbor's not exactly getting nervous about the competition yet!

I didn't fertilize in the summer, because I'm really not that keen on mowing, (who is?) Apparently what happens when you fertilize in the warmer months is that it promotes top growth, but does nothing for the roots. (Hence the more mowing comment). Looking at it that way I'm sure you'll agree that fertilizing in the summer doesn't make sense. We all know that a house is only as good as it's foundation - The same goes for a lawn. What we want is strong roots and the best way to get them is to fertilize in the fall, (or autumn if you come from my part of the world).

All sounds too easy right? That's what I thought too, but when you think about it, it all makes perfect sense. Stronger roots are bound to prevail over the competition. Mowing high also has a side benefit besides the less mowing aspect. Accepting that the sun is food, the longer grass will shade any weed seedlings that may try to make headway on your lawn. Without the sun they won't live long!

This is a work in progress for me. I will keep you posted on my results and any issues I encounter on the way to the lawn that I'm expecting to be the envy of the neighborhood next year...(Aah, wouldn't that be nice?)

Photo courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Stormwater Quality BMP Program for Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty IA

There are so many ways we can help improve our environment. The US is lagging a bit compared to Europe and some other parts of the world and I'm on a bit of a crusade to do my part to make sure that I pass relevant information onto the people around me.

If you're "lucky" enough to get my newsletter, then you'll know what I mean...For those of you who don't, my newsletter often has energy saving tips, ways to maintain your yard naturally, or in the case of this month's newsletter, information about incentives for home owners who take part in the stormwater quality BMP program in the Iowa City area.

The idea is to promote installation of stormwater quality best management practices (BMPs) in the area. Financial assistance is available to applicants who install BMPs on their property improving the quality of stormwater runoff into the city storm sewer system, creeks or streams. This could be rain gardens, bio retention, rain barrels and pervious paving systems, just to name a few.

Funding is limited and works on a first come, first served basis. I live in Coralville and spoke to an official at the Coralville Building Department today and he told me the fiscal year has only just begun, so right now they do have adequate funds available for property owners interested in taking advantage of the program.

The maximum financial assistance available is 50% of the cost of the project up to $750 - whichever is less.

I'm a Realtor® serving the Iowa City, Coralville and North Liberty area, so those are the areas I researched on the subject. Iowa City is usually very forward thinking on these kinds of things, but I'm sure there are other cities in the US that are following the new Federal guidelines when it comes to stormwater management.

The links below will take you to forms needed to apply in North Liberty, Coralville and Iowa City. They also provide more details about the program:

City of North Liberty

City of Coralville

City of Iowa City

Photo courtesy of USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service