This Weeks Featured Article
How energy efficient is your Silicon Valley home?
Winter is finally upon us. Is your home ready for the impending cold and rainy season? Are you looking to save a few dollars on your PG& E bills? Are you wondering exactly where your home ranks in terms of energy efficiency? You can find out how energy efficient your home is by going to Energy Star’s website and enter your power usage and energy bill information, and you can find out where you rank among the rest of America in terms of your home’s energy efficiency.
To help winterize your home for this season, here are a few helpful tips:
- Add or change the weather stripping on your front door and any other doors to the outside of your home
- Add fireproof electrical insulation around your switch plates
- Add insulation around your window trim
- Add insulation around or weather stripping to your attic trap door(s)
- Insulate or add weather stripping around any bathroom fans vented to your attic
- Insulate your garage and attic
- Keep your fireplace damper closed when not in use
- Insulate the perimeter of your basement (the rim joists)
- Seal ducts and insulate any spots where pipes intersect with the floor or ceiling
- Insulate your basement
Special thanks to Home Warranty of America for this list of tips on insulating your home for the winter!
Winter is Coming, Is Your Silicon Valley Home Ready?
This Autumn, we find ourselves experiencing an Indian Summer. Today, October 24th, it is warm and sunny here in Cupertino. However living in the Bay Area, we know that the upcoming rainy and stormy season is inevitable. Are you prepared for the impending weather change?
Looking for Great Service? Check out a StynesGroup - Keller Williams Realty Agent!
J.D. Power and Associates created a new award for home buyers and sellers. In July 2008, the inagural year of this award, Keller Williams Realty earned the top award for buyer satisfaction, beating out other real estate brokerages such as Coldwell Banker, Prudential, Century 21, and RE/Max. The measures of satisfaction are based on [...]
Tom Stynes joins Keller Williams Realty’s Luxury Home Division
I am pleased to announce I and StynesGroup have been awarded the title of Luxury Home Consultant and we are now exclusive members of Keller Williams® Realty’s Luxury Home division. To qualify for this designation, I need to show through actual home sales that my team and I (StynesGroup) are in the top 10 percent [...]
2008 Santa Clara County API School Scores
Have you been spinning your wheels trying to figure out the best place to buy in the Silicon Valley that also reflects a good school district for your children? Many of my clients have asked the question… “How do I know if the schools attached to this house are good or not?” This is a [...]
It’s a Buyer’s Market in the Silicon Valley!
Silicon Valley single family housing inventories are up 11.6% and home values are down 16.3% compared to July 2007. Finally, we have a Buyer’s Market in many Santa Clara County, CA communities. At long last buyers have leverage in price negotiations as compared to the peak years 2004 - early 2007 when homes were flying off [...]
Green Tip of the week
Here is a good suggestion from the California Association of Realtors (CAR) website.
KEEP THE CORD
When purchasing a phone for your home or office, consider buying one with a cord. Cordless models draw power in charging and standby modes, while older models use very little power. The savings per phone: 28 kilowatt hours of electricity annually. [...]
School Performance Impacts Home Values in the Silicon Valley
Tom Stynes, the Silicon Valley Real Estate Expert, was asked by KRON4’s Kate Thompson to comment how school performance impacts home prices in Cupertino, California.
As stated by Tom in the interview, “School performance directly impacts home prices. Homes mapped to top schools can see as much as a 7 - 10% premium in the eventual [...]
Take the money and run!
You may not know that many lenders have been quietly reducing the credit lines on homeowners’ Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOC). Unfortunately the way many homeowners find out is when the bank sends a letter stating, “effective immediately the $300,000+ line of credit has been reduced to your current balance or as low as [...]
StynesGroup Lists Terrific Single Family Home in Cupertino, CA
Fall in love with your own private oasis! This house is full of natural light from abundant windows and skylights. Faux double entry door system, well-lit foyer with skylight, newly painted interior and trim, newly carpeted family room with vaulted ceiling and wood-burning fireplace, newly refinished oak hardwood floors throughout. Patio sliding doors with safety [...]
