The U.S. House and Senate are close to an agreement to extend the home buyer tax credit due to expire at the end of this month.

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The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), which is part of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), administers various single family mortgage insurance programs. These programs operate through FHA-approved lending institutions which submit applications to have the property appraised and have the buyer’s credit approved. These lenders fund the mortgage loans which the Department insures. HUD does not make direct loans to help people buy homes.

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Eco-conscious residents in Bennington, Vermont make use of the landfill’s recycling program to save money – and help protect their planet.

But our Canadian neighbors have gone Olymp-eco. A metals company in Vancouver is working with the Royal Canadian Mint to create the medals for the upcoming 2010 Olympics – out of trash metal.

The medals are made primarily from computer parts and are undulating instead of flat, and will include artistic representations of the orca whale and the raven.

While checking out real estate in Bennington, Vermont, take time to enjoy and shop at the Bennington Arts Guild on South Street, where many of our art athletes incorporate recycled objects into useable items.

Here are two ways you can help the planet when you buy  Bennington, Vermont real estate!

•  Bennington’s Bright Idea, begun in 2007 by the Bennington Energy Committee in conjunction with Efficiency Vermont, encouraged residents to change their old-style light bulbs to energy conserving compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs). Replacing 6 bulbs in your new home will save approximately 30 gigawatt hours of electricity, which would power 5000 homes for a year! Go to  http://www.benningtonenergy.org/home.php for more information. 
• CVPS customers can choose to receive all, half or a quarter of their electrical energy through Cow Power. Manure is held in a sealed concrete tank at the same temperature as a cow’s stomach. Bacteria digest the manure, creating methane and killing pathogens and weed seeds. The methane then fuels an engine/generator.  The process kills almost all manure odors, and provides a peat-moss-like material for bedding animals – and the cycle starts over! In 2008, “Power Magazine” named CVPS Cow Powerâ„¢ one of five “Top Plants” worldwide.

Go to http://www.cvps.com/cowpower/Cow%20Power%20home.html for more information!