What Are You Waiting For?

                             





Total output of the Sun was gathered for one second it would provide the U.S. with enough energy, at its current usage rate, for the next 9,000,000 years."

                                 Getting Started With Solar

 

No Changes In How You Use Electricity

Solar electricity works exactly the same as the electricity you buy from the utility company. You turn on lights, plug in lamps and power appliances the same way you do right now. In fact, if you didn't see solar modules on the roof, you'd never notice any difference—except a lower electric bill.

Relax, It's Easier Than You Think

While the science of converting sunshine into electricity is complex, the idea is pretty simple. Solar electricity is generated by a group of solar modules called an array that's installed on your roof or in your yard. When sunlight falls on the solar modules, a DC electrical current is created instantly. The DC electricity is fed into an inverter that changes it to standard AC electricity - the same kind your home already uses.

General Explanation of Solar Water Heating

Solar water heating systems use collector (absorber) panels to harvest the sun’s energy. These collector panels are in many cases installed on the roof of your home or garage. As the sun shines on the absorber panels, water is heated in tubes within the collector panels, and then moves to a water heater or heaters, depending on the design, for storage and later use in the home. .

Solar water heating systems allow homeowners to use the solar source as their main system and their conventional water heater as back-up storage.

Optimally placed absorber panels, with conventional methods as a backup, will yield you many years of use and dramatically lower energy costs all while lowering your carbon footprint and contributing to a greener world.

 DID YOU KNOW...???
The California Energy Commission estimates that the average household spends up to 30% or more of its energy bill for hot water heating, and it accounts for more than one-quarter of the total energy used in a typical single-family home. An electric water heater is the single largest user of electricity of all household appliances.

Whether you have an electric or gas water heater, the operating cost will continue to rise over time.
According to the California Public Utilities Commission, electricity rates have been increasing an average of 6% per year, over the past 35 years, and the wholesale price for natural gas has more than tripled in the past eight years. Natural gas shortages are likely to push rates even higher in the near future. With solar you will no longer have to be at the mercy of the utilities and their ever-rising rates.

The California Public Utilities Commission estimates that a typical homeowner can save 60-70% on the cost of water heating by installing a solar water heating system.

Pitcairn Lt Bligh

 

The Mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against commanding officer Lieutenant William Bligh. According to most accounts, the sailors were attracted to the idyllic life on the Pacific island of Tahiti and were further motivated by harsh treatment from their captain.

Eighteen mutineers set Lieutenant Bligh afloat in a small boat with eighteen of the twenty-two crew loyal to him. The mutineers then variously settled on Pitcairn Island or in Tahiti and burned the Bounty off Pitcairn Island, to avoid detection and to prevent desertion.

 Bligh navigated the 23-foot (7 m) open launch on a 47-day voyage to Timor in the Dutch East Indies, equipped with a quadrant and pocket watch and without charts or compass. He recorded the distance as 3,618 nautical miles (6,710 km). He then returned to Britain and reported the mutiny to the Admiralty on 15 March 1790, 2 years and 11 weeks after his original departure.

The British government dispatched HMS Pandora to capture the mutineers, and Pandora reached Tahiti on 23 March 1791. Four of the men from the Bounty came on board soon after its arrival, and ten more were arrested within a few weeks. These fourteen were imprisoned in a makeshift cell on Pandora's deck. Pandora ran aground on part of the Great Barrier Reef on 29 August 1791, with the loss of 31 of the crew and four of the prisoners. The surviving ten prisoners were eventually repatriated to England, tried in a naval court with three hanged, four acquitted and three pardoned.

Descendants of some of the mutineers and Tahitians still live on Pitcairn

Island;   with only 50 residents, whose ancestors – crew on the HMS Bounty – were so taken with the island that they mutinied and burned their own ship. Their postage stamps are rare and expensive since collectors have to hop on a boat from New Zealand for a ten-day voyage in order to buy them.

In Sacramento’s case, prices will grow faster than just about anywhere else in the country.

Home prices in Sacramento have reached the highest levels in 11 years and are expected to grow faster than nearly every other place in America this year.
Zillow forecasts Sacramento will see the second largest rise in home prices — nearly 12 percent in 2013. In fact, with the exception of Phoenix, California occupies all the top seven spots.
A shortage of houses for sale is driving up prices and making this a hot seller’s market. A home we went to in Natomas sold for $259,000 in just 48 hours to a foreign investment group.
“Any time the value of homes go up, people that own houses are going to benefit,” said real estate investor Rich Crosby.
Sacramento home values started picking up last year and the Zillow estimate of another 12 percent increase will only keep investors in the market. They’re competing with an increase in buyers for the low number of houses on the market.
“So you have low interest rates, you have down payment assistance and you have a lack of inventory, which is causing a surge in the market,” said a realtor Michael Sandoval.
Real estate analysts say the surge is more of a bounce back from the housing crash (really).. Some Sacramento-area homes lost more than half their value. The hardest-hit neighborhoods are seeing the biggest rebound. Natomas, Elk Grove, Lincoln and Roseville top the list.
“Houses like this probably in their heyday were $450,000-$500,000. Now we’re looking at maybe $300,000, $350,000 at the most,” said Crosby.
Real estate investment companies like Rich Crosby’s are often the buyers, paying cash to rent or flip the homes. And they argue they bring up prices for the neighborhood.
“We can sell the house more than that short sale can, which inevitably brings up the value of the houses around it. It’s a win-win, really,” said Crosby.
But the investors are criticized for crowding out other buyers — even those with 20 percent down who can’t compete with cash offers. The lesson in economics 101 is simple: as long as there’s more demand than supply, home prices are expected to creep up.
In Sacramento’s case, prices will grow faster than just about anywhere else in the country.

HUD No.13-033 HUD Public Affairs (202) 708-0980 Treasury Public Affairs (202) 622-2960

FOR RELEASE Friday March 8, 2013

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION RELEASES FEBRUARY HOUSING SCORECARD

Quarterly Servicer Assessments Show Mortgage Servicers Demonstrate Continued Improvement
in Implementation of the Making Home Affordable Program

WASHINGTON- The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the February edition of the Obama Administration's Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Data continue to show important progress across many key indicators—as home prices ended the year with strong gains and purchases of new homes and sales of existing homes were also strong—although officials caution that the overall recovery remains fragile. The full Housing Scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.
“The Obama Administration’s efforts to speed housing recovery are showing continued progress as the February scorecard indicators highlight ongoing improvements throughout the housing market,” said HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs Kurt Usowski. “House prices are steadily rising above the mid-crisis lows in markets throughout the country, while inventories of new and existing homes are further tightening, and even estimates of the 'shadow inventory' are down.  That said, we still remain considerably below long-term normal levels of home sales and production.”
Included in this month’s Making Home Affordable Program Report are detailed assessments from the fourth quarter of 2012 for the largest mortgage servicers participating in the program. These Servicer Assessments – first introduced in June 2011 and published quarterly – have set a new standard for disclosure around servicer efforts to assist struggling homeowners.
“The Administration continues to improve outcomes for homeowners seeking mortgage relief by setting new standards for customer service and holding mortgage companies publicly accountable,” said Treasury Assistant Secretary for Financial Stability Tim Massad. “As a result, struggling families today have stronger consumer protections and more sustainable options to avoid foreclosure.”
Since inception of the Making Home Affordable Program, Treasury has required participating servicers to take specific actions to improve their processes through ongoing program reviews. The quarterly Servicer Assessments summarize performance in three categories of program implementation: identifying and contacting homeowners; homeowner evaluation and assistance; and program reporting, management and governance. Results for the fourth quarter of 2012 show that servicers are focusing attention on areas identified in previous program reviews and, as a result, are demonstrating continued improvement in program implementation:

• Servicers are more effectively evaluating homeowners under program eligibility criteria as seen in the “second look disagree” category, which reflects the rate at which Treasury’s program reviews disagree with the servicers’ decision to find a homeowner ineligible for assistance. In the fourth quarter, the average second look disagree rate for the top servicers was below two percent.
   
• Mortgage servicers continue to accurately calculate homeowner income, which is used to determine a homeowner’s eligibility and modified payment amount under the program. In the fourth quarter, the average income calculation error rate for the top servicers went down from the previous quarter, and three servicers had a zero percent error rate.

For the fourth quarter of 2012, two servicers were found to need only minor improvement on the areas reviewed for program performance, while seven servicers were found to need moderate improvement. Although servicer performance in a particular compliance category can fluctuate from quarter to quarter, in general, servicers continue to show continued overall improvement in program implementation. All servicers, however, will need to continue to demonstrate progress in any areas identified in subsequent program reviews.
The February Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the Administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:

• The Administration's foreclosure mitigation programs are providing relief for millions of homeowners as we continue to recover from an unprecedented housing crisis.  More than 1.5 million homeowner assistance actions have taken place through the Making Home Affordable Program, while the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has offered more than 1.6 million loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions. The Administration's programs continue to encourage improved standards and processes in the industry, with HOPE Now lenders offering families and individuals more than 3.4 million proprietary mortgage modifications through December.
   
• HAMP continues to offer homeowners affordable and sustainable relief to avoid foreclosure. As of January, more than 1.1 million homeowners have received a permanent modification through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), saving approximately $546 on their mortgage payments each month, and an estimated $17.9 billion to date. In January, 69 percent of homeowners with eligible non-GSE mortgages benefitted from principal reduction with their HAMP modification.  Homeowners currently in permanent HAMP modifications have been granted an estimated $9.2 billion in total principal reduction. 

1917 cottage located near the village center : EAST HAMPTON NY

• 4 bedrooms
• 3 full baths
• Acreage: 0.43 acres (approx.)
•  East Hampton, NY, United States
  $2,850,000

  Honey sweetens the allure of the Hamptons 
  

   or millennia, honey has been considered a "superfood" - long before the coining of that particular buzzword. From its first cultivation in the Middle East to the medieval honey-based beverage of mead, the sweet nectar has consistently played an important role in cuisine and medicine. Although it has a long and varied history, honey has, in many ways, become even more popular in the last several years. Spurred on by increasing attention to locally-sourced natural foods, boutique honey has become a growing trend throughout much of the U.S., especially in places like the Hamptons. In fact, many owners have begun to sample some of the honey made in the region, finding ways of adding it to their diets and cooking habits.
  Luckily, a few local honey producers have answered the call and started to ramp up their production to satisfy the growing number of honey-hungry Hamptons' residents.
  One example is the Hamptons Honey Company. Focusing on raw and natural production, this young company has helped bring high-quality honey to locals, and prides itself on its staff of well-trained, environmentally conscious beekeepers.
  As the demand for natural, local honey has spiked in the Hamptons, the number of suppliers has increased. Mary Woltz, for example, initially came to the region to work for the Hamptons Honey Company, but has since left to start her own business - Bees' Needs. She works year round, turning out artisanal batches of sumptuous honey.
  "My honey changes with the seasons," she recently told Hamptons Magazine. "It will be light and delicate in the spring and more complex throughout the summer. And I can tell you which hive every jar comes from."
  As more residents of the Hamptons begin to appreciate the nutritional and flavor benefits of local raw honey, the community has a chance to become one of the most honey-soaked areas of the country.
  Founded in 1648 by English farmers, East Hampton remained a quiet farming community until the late 19th century, when it became a resort for the wealthy upper class. It became an ARTIST COLONY in the mid-20th century, popularized by the ABSTRACT EXPRESSIONIST It has become a popular weekend destination during the summer season.
  History and surviving historic sites are detailed in "Village of East Hampton Multiple Area", a New York State study..