Real Estate Information Archive

Improving and maintaining good indoor air quality is key in asthma management and limiting the presence of irritants in the air in your home. Below are a few steps you can take to improve air quality in your home as found in the article Creating an Asthma-Safe Home by KidsHealth.

Improving Air Quality

• Don’t allow smoking in your home. Quit or smoke outside.
• Use unscented or non-aerosol varieties of household cleaning products.
• Verify that all your gas appliances are properly vented outside.
• Run air conditioning when pollen or mold counts are high or when there are ozone or pollution warnings.
• Change air conditioning filter regularly.
• Reducing the Presence of Dust Mites
• Vacuum and dust regularly.
• Avoid the use of feather or down pillows or comforters.
• Wash your children’s bedding in hot water and also dry it on a high setting.
• Cover mattresses, pillows and box springs with mite-proof covers. Regularly wipe down covers.
• Remove carpeting in your child’s room.
• Window coverings in your child’s room should be easily washed or cleaned. Horizontal blinds are not recommended as they accumulate dust on their multiple surfaces.
• Store children’s books in a room other than his or her bedroom
• Keep stuffed animals to a minimum. Favorite plush toys should be washed and dried regularly on the hot settings. Placing plush toys in a plastic bag in the freezer for a minimum of 5 hours will also kill any dust mites present.
• Avoid using a humidifier particularly in your child’s room.

Reducing Moisture and Mold

• Fix leaky pipes, faucets, or roofs. Clean and repair roof gutters regularly.
• Make sure your bathrooms and basement are well ventilated. Install and use exhaust fans to help lower moisture in these areas.
• If you have any damp closets, clean them thoroughly and leave a 100-watt bulb on all the time to increase the temperature and dry out the air.
• Run a dehumidifier in the basement or other damp areas. It's important to empty and clean the water pan often.
• Remove wallpaper and wall-to-wall carpeting from bathrooms and basement rooms.
• Run the air conditioning (this is especially helpful if you have central air), making sure to change the filter monthly.
• Avoid houseplants, which may harbor mold in their soil.
• Clean any visible mold or mildew with a solution that's one part chlorine bleach to 10 parts water. Don't paint or caulk over moldy surfaces without cleaning them first.
• When painting bathrooms or other damp areas of your house, use anti-mildew paint.
• If there's visible mold on ceiling tiles, remove and replace them. Also check to see if there's a leaky pipe that may be causing the problem.
• Replace or wash moldy shower curtains.

Pets in the Home

• Keep pets outside. If you can't, at least keep them out of your child's bedroom and playroom.
• Wash and brush your pet every week.
• Make sure your child doesn't play with or touch your pet and keep him or her away from the litter box if you have a cat.
• Wash your hands every time you touch your pet.
• If you have a pet that lives in a cage, keep it in a room that your child doesn't spend time in regularly. Also, have someone other than your child clean the cage daily.

For more detail information and tips how to create an asthma-safe home visit the KidsHealth website and talk with your child’s doctor about their specific triggers.

Many of us have allergies, and children with asthma, and we want to ensure family members live and play in surroundings that won’t aggravate this chronic disease, and this starts at home. When it comes to children, we want to keep them as safe as possible; however the reality is we have little control over conditions outside of our own homes. By beginning with your own home you can implement a few no-cost or low-cost lifestyle changes that will help turn your house into an asthma safe home, for family members suffering from this condition.

Identifying the Triggers Allergens
If you are unsure what triggers are specific to your child, or children, with asthma, please consult your physician, as they will be able to help identify these triggers and advise you in this regard. Some of the more common triggers, allergens, found in our homes include:

Every third weekend in March, You can find me and my family enjoying the 12-Hours of Sebring Car Races from their "Cool" spot on the hairpin turn. We would love to see you join on this weekend for the Sebring International Raceway in Sebring, Florida for some great times and wonderful memories.

Sebring International Raceway is America's premier sports car racing facility. Nestled among the orange groves and cattle ranches of central Florida, it is the oldest permanent road racing track in North America, evolving from a World War II air base.

The 57th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by “Fresh from Florida” takes the green flag at 10:30 am Saturday, March 21. Gates open Wednesday, March 18, and remain open 24 hours a day through Saturday.

Pick up you tickets at the gate and look for Carl, Danny and myself!  We look forward to having some great fun!

The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 was just signed by President Bush with some amazing benefits for first time homebuyers. Call everyone you know who wants to buy their first home (or who hasn't owned one in three years), this is too good to miss - it's a $7,500 tax CREDIT (not deduction but a credit).

If you have not owned a home in three years, you qualify as a first time home buyer. If you buy a home after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009, you qualify for this credit. Call your friends who just bought a home since April 9th and tell them they may take $7,500 off their tax bill if they qualify. It has to be your principal residence, so rentals do not count.

The tax credit is 10% of the cost of the home, up to a maximum of $7,500. This is not an additional deduction that lowers the amount of income to be taxed, it is a tax credit. In other words, you take $7,500 off your tax bill. But there is a catch; the credit you receive now is actually an interest-free loan that must be repaid.

The loan has no interest, and will be paid back over 15 years. You get the credit on your 2008 taxes, but you start paying it back on your 2010 taxes that are due in 2011, so you get at least two years without a payment. You pay back 6.67% of the credit each year, so for a $7,500 credit the payment is $502.50 per year. If you stay put for 15 years, you pay it off with no interest.

What happens if you sell the house? You pay the balance back at the closing. So, you get $7,500 now, and pay the rest of it back if you make money on the sale of your house. What happens if you do not make enough money when you sell your house? They forgive the rest of the debt.

Other restrictions stipulate that you have to buy your first house in three years before July 1, 2009, not have super high income, not use bond financing and buy anywhere in the US.

If you'd like to learn more about this program, please call me!