In the Bennington VT real estate market, it’s important that you take safety precautions with your holiday lighting. This article gives you some good tips for holiday safety.

Before you plug in and light up for the holidays, run your decorations through this quick safety check.

Lights, inside and out, are a beautiful part of the holiday season. But as with all electrical devices, you need to take special precautions. Before you deck the halls, run through this checklist to keep your holidays merry and bright.

Inspect light strings. Discard any that are damaged. Frayed or cracked electrical cords or broken sockets are leading fire hazards.

Follow the manufacturer’s instructions for connecting multiple strings. The general limit is three strings. Light strings with stacked plugs can usually accommodate greater lengths than end-to-end connections.

Replace burned-out bulbs promptly. Empty sockets can cause the entire string to overheat.

Make sure outdoor lighting is UL-rated for exterior use. Exterior lights, unlike those used inside the house, need to be weather-resistant. The same goes for any extension cords used outdoors.

Don’t use outdoor lights indoors. They’re too hot for interior use. For the coolest bulbs and greatest energy efficiency, try LED lights, which come in a wide range of styles and colors.

Don’t attach light strings with nails or staples. They can cut through the wire insulation and create a fire hazard. Only use UL-approved hangers.

Take exterior lights down within 90 days. The longer they stay up, the more likely they are to suffer damage from weather and critters chewing on them.

Store lights safely. Tangled lights can lead to damaged cords and broken sockets. After the holidays, coil each string loosely around a stiff piece of cardboard, wrap it in paper or fabric to protect the bulbs, and store in a sturdy container until next year.

Pat Curry is a former senior editor at BUILDER, the official magazine of the National Association of Home Builders, and a frequent contributor to real estate and home-building publications.

Article From HouseLogic.com, By: Pat Curry, Published: November 18, 2009

Despite historic low interest rates and commercial real estate  prices, few small business owners are purchasing commercial real estate, citing liquidity  and loan qualification as key concerns. A recent study showed that many small business owners are unaware of the benefits provided through SBA loans, which offer small business owners more flexible repayment terms and easier loan qualification terms that can make purchasing a commercial property a more viable option. In the Bennington VT real estate market there are banks that can offer the SBA loan program.  Call Troy to find out who you should be talking to. See the following article from The Street for more on this.

Times are tough all over. You don’t have to remind small-business owners of that.

But with commercial real estate prices at historic lows, and low mortgage  rates right there beside them, entrepreneurs are missing a big chance to make a huge killing — and bolster their business in the process.

The CIT Small Business Commercial Real Estate Study, a report from CIT Group(CIT_), documents how small-business owners can capitalize on great commercial real estate deals, even though they apparently don’t want to.

According to CIT analysts, cheap commercial real estate is one of “the few upsides” for small-business owners trying to operate in a harsh economic climate.

But entrepreneurs aren’t taking advantage of the low prices. CIT says only 6% of small-business owners have bought one or more commercial properties, while a majority — 53% — say they “haven’t even thought about making a purchase.”

Overall, only a little over a quarter — 28% — of the 300 small-business owners interviewed for the survey say real estate is a “great” business opportunity.

The path to leveraging great commercial real estate opportunities goes through the U.S. Small Business Administration, the survey says.

“Today’s market conditions may offer a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for entrepreneurs who want to take their businesses to the next level,” says Chris Reilly, president of CIT Small Business Lending. “To achieve this, Small Business Administration loans, with their low cost and flexible terms, offer an excellent choice for small-business owners looking to refinance their existing real estate or to acquire a new property.”

Small-business owners have their reasons for not jumping into the real estate market. CIT reports that 36% of respondents say they may not be able to qualify for a loan, given the tight lending market.

Another problem is liquidity, since 19% of business owners say they can’t afford a down payment. CIT notes, though, that SBA loans can come with lower down payments, lower monthly payments and longer “pay-off” periods than regular bank loans, which can surely address some small-business owners’ liquidity problems.

The study shows that only a tiny minority of survey respondents are aware of those benefits. The recently enacted Small Business Jobs and Credit Act “sweetens SBA loan terms for both lenders and borrowers, eliminating borrowers’ fees, raising the loan guarantee to 90% from 75%, and increases loan limits.”

Sure, CIT has a horse in this race — it wants to make loans to small-business owners. But there’s no question there has rarely been a better time for a small-business owner to buy commercial property.

Since small businesses employ 59 million people (about half of all private sector jobs, CIT says), any investment in property that solidifies a small-business owner’s financial position is good for his or her business, employees and the economy.

But entrepreneurs don’t see it that way, and they’re the ones who control the purse strings, no matter how many great real estate deals are out there.

This article has been republished from The Street.

Contents insurance is important for renters to have to protect themselves and their belonging; Here are three reasons why it is important

NEW YORK, Dec. 2, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Many experts recommend for tenants to have a comprehensive contents insurance policy. Here are three reason why renters should always have coverage.

1. Contents insurance offers extensive coverage. A renters insurance policy is much like that of a homeowners policy without the aspect of covering the physical structure, but at a much lower cost. The landlord has insurance to cover the structure but the contents of the tenant must be covered under a separate policy. They provide protection for the items owned by the renter and have a liability aspect. Generally they cover 16 types of perils, including: fire or lightning, windstorm or hail, explosion, riot or civil commotion, damage caused by aircraft, damage caused by vehicles, smoke, vandalism or malicious mischief, theft, volcanic eruption, falling objects, weight of ice or snow or sleet, and some specific water damage, plumbing damage, and electrical current damage.

2. There is a liability aspect. This part of a contents insurance policy for renters covers the tenant if someone is injured in their rental property. This would cover the medical costs and any legal expenses if the renter is sued. Typically, these situations have to do with an injury to a guest at the dwelling and also involve damage done to others’ property by someone insured on the plan.

3. Extensive coverage at a low price. The cost of rental insurance is about $10 to $20 a month, depending on the state. Not every contents insurance policy has the same level of protection and, therefore, some will cost more than others.

About RentersInsurance.net

RentersInsurance.net provides renters with a free online shopping service for housing and apartment rental insurance. A comprehensive policy that will cover all your belongings can cost as little as $10 a month. To quickly and easily get free renters insurance quotes, visit the website.

No one ever expects that their rental property is going to have a fire or some other major disaster requiring an insurance claim, and many people think that the landlord’s insurance will cover their belonging, but this simply is not the case, even in the Bennington VT real estate market.

This time of year with all the holiday lights, it’s important to keep a few things in mind when decorating your home in the Bennington VT real estate market area.

Some electrical fire dangers are hidden inside the walls, but if you know the warning signs, you can keep an electrical fire from happening in your home.

Most homeowners know that overloading circuits and using frayed extension cords can lead to electrical fires. But there are other electrical fire dangers in your home that, while they may not be as obvious, are no less dangerous. According to the most recent data from the National Fire Protection Association, electrical failure or malfunction caused an estimated 52,500 fires in U.S. homes in 2006, resulting in 340 deaths, 1,400 injuries, and nearly $1.5 billion in property damage. Here are warning signs of four potential hazards that you may not know about. If any of them sound familiar, consider hiring a licensed electrician to conduct a wiring inspection ($200 to $300).

Hidden danger #1: Old wiring
The lifespan of an electrical system is 30 to 40 years. But more than 30% of the nation’s houses-some 30 million homes-are more than 50 years old. “Older homes with fuses were set up for about 30 amps of power; many homes now have 100, 150, even 200 amps of power,” says John Drengenberg, consumer safety director for Underwriters Laboratories (http://WWW.UL.COM), which conducted a study of aging residential wiring.
Warning signs of inadequate power include circuit breakers that trip or fuses that blow repeatedly, and an over-reliance on extension cords. “They’re meant to be temporary,” Drengenberg says. “If you have extension cords routed all over, it’s time to get an electrician out there. Your home would not comply with the National Electrical Code.”
Hidden danger #2: Aluminum wiring
Many houses built in the 1960s and early 1970s have aluminum wiring, which oxidizes and corrodes more easily than copper and has been linked by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (http://www.CPSC.GOV) to electrical fires. “It’s okay for a while, but it doesn’t have the life that copper does, particularly where wires terminate. The terminals and splices are known for overheating,” says Roger L. Boyell, a forensic engineer in Moorestown, N.J.
Short of a whole-house wiring upgrade (http://www.houselogic.com/articles/when-time-for-electrical-wiring-upgrade/), an electrician may be able to head off potential problems by installing copper connectors called pigtails at receptacles and breakers. “It’s time-consuming,” Boyell says, “but there’s no big equipment involved.”

Hidden danger #3: Arc faults
An arc fault-which occurs when electrical current veers off its intended path, often through a breach in wiring-is a leading cause of electrical fires, according to the National Fire Protection Association (http://www.nfpa.org). It doesn’t take much to cause an arc fault. You could damage wiring inside the wall when hanging a cabinet, a piece of furniture could cut through a cord, or there may be a loose connection in an outlet.

The resulting arc, capable of producing heat in excess of 10,000 degrees F, can be nearly impossible to detect. But arc faults are preventable. A device called an arc-fault circuit interrupter (AFCI) senses these dangerous abnormalities in wiring or appliances and shuts down the circuit before it overheats. The Electrical Safety Foundation International (http://www.ESFI.ORG) estimates that the use of AFCIs could prevent 50% to 75% of fires caused by arc faults.

AFCIs are now required on circuits covering most general living areas in new houses. (Note: These are not the same as ground-fault circuit interrupters, or GFCIs, which are used in kitchens, baths, and other wet areas to prevent electrical shocks.) But they’re even more valuable in older houses, where connections may have degraded over the years. It’s an easy job for an electrician to upgrade standard circuit breakers, which don’t protect against arc faults, to AFCIs. At $30 to $50 per breaker, it could cost a few hundred dollars to retrofit every circuit. Still, weighed against the potential tragedy of a house fire, it’s money well spent.

Hidden danger #4: Counterfeit electrical products
If you’ve ever gone to a flea market and seen vendors hawking extension cords, power strips, night lights, batteries, even circuit breakers for ridiculously low prices, there’s a reason. They’re probably counterfeits, and they’re incredibly dangerous. “I’ve seen extension cords all over the country that have inferior copper in them-it’s speaker wire, and it literally melts in your hands,” says Brett Brenner, president of the Electrical Safety Foundation International (http://WWW.ESFI.ORG). “They’re putting a lot of people at risk.”
Your best bet is to buy electrical products only from reputable retailers who will take things back if they don’t work. And look for the Underwriters Laboratories (http://WWW.UL.COM) seal. On low-cost items that are ripe for counterfeits, UL puts its logo in a holographic label that’s much more difficult to reproduce.

If the worst happens: Extinguishing an electrical fire
Electrical fires are tricky to put out. If you douse them with water, you run the risk of electrocution, and not all chemical fire suppressants will extinguish them completely. To be safe, make sure your household fire extinguisher is rated A-B-C, which indicates that it is effective against fires involving ordinary combustible materials, flammable liquids, and electrical equipment.
Serial remodeler Pat Curry is a former senior editor at BUILDER, the official magazine of the National Association of Home Builders, and a frequent contributor to real estate and home-building publications.

Article From HouseLogic.com, By: Pat Curry, Published: August 28, 2009

Want to get top dollar for your rentals? Then a no-smoking policy may be your ticket to raising the rent.
Chicago Tobacco Prevention Project just conducted a renter survey and found a significant preference for nonsmoking units. In fact, nearly a third of all renters (32 percent) in Chicago would be willing to pay more rent to live in smoke-free buildings.

The survey also found that nearly half of all renters say they would be more likely to rent an apartment or unit in a completely smoke-free building where smoking is prohibited in indoor common areas and individual units (47 percent). By comparison, 31 percent say it would make no difference and only 20 percent would be less likely to rent on those terms.
Read the full entry – - – Bennington VT Real Estate Commentary »

Four years into the housing crisis, myths about foreclosure still litter the minds of even the smartest of real estate consumers. When it comes to matters as high stakes as your home, confusion can cost you thousands – or even your home. Whether you’re a buyer looking at foreclosures, a homeowner struggling to keep your home or a seller concerned making sure your home can compete with the foreclosed homes on your block, these foreclosure myths are prime for the busting, with no further ado.

Keep in mind that in the Bennington VT real estate market, not all of these comments may be applicable. It is important to consult with your bank or real estate professional to determine the best course of action for you. Remember, all real estate is local, and this commentary is more geared towards a national audience.
Read the full entry – - – Bennington VT Real Estate Commentary »

Do you have gently used or never used items that you would like to donate to the Children’s Holiday Boutique? Perhaps it is a gift that never got used in your home or an item that was only worn or used once or twice.

Now is the time, and the Bennington Museum’s Children’s Holiday Gift Boutique is the perfect place for those items to be put to good use. Those earrings, scarves, gloves, kitchen utensils, books, figurines, cds, could be the perfect gift for someone on a child’s list.

Please consider donating them. They can be brought to the Bennington Museum between now and November 21 any weekday between 9:00 am and 4:00 pm. and on the weekend between 10:00 am and 4:00 pm.

It’s this time of year in the Bennington VT real estate market that our thoughts go to helping others. RE/MAX Maple Leaf Realty participates in Warm The Children program this time of year too.

Gross Domestic Product – GDP – measures the total final market value of all goods and services produced in a given year in the United States. A number of components make up the GDP: Consumption, Investment, Government Expenditures, and Net Exports. Total GDP was in the neighborhood of $14.119 trillion in 2009. In general, consumer spending (consumption) accounts for the largest share of GDP – generally around 70 percent

Factors that cause the GDP to increase include rising consumer confidence, productivity improvements, increased business investment, increased exports, falling interest rates, and rising consumer and government expenditures. Factors that cause the GDP to decrease include declining consumer confidence, rising imports, declining exports, lower consumer spending, a poor investment outlook, and rising interest rates.
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by Keunwon Chung, Statistical Economist

International real estate purchases in the U.S. continue to account for a significant share of business for many REALTORS®. Beginning in 2007, NAR Research has conducted an annual survey of NAR members about their level of business with foreign clients. Results of the latest survey were released this past summer in The 2010 NAR Profile of International Home Buying Activity.*

In the July issue of Real Estate INSIGHTS, we looked at the economics of the international market. This month, we highlight some additional findings from the most recent survey.

REALTORS® and their International Clientele
After declining from 2007 to 2009, the share of REALTORS® reporting international clientele has increased. Of the REALTORS® surveyed, more than a quarter – 28 percent – served at least one international client in the 12-month period between March 2009 to March 2010. Additionally, more than half (18 percent) of those REALTORS® actually sold properties to international clients. Five percent of REALTORS® who had international clients obtained more than 50 percent of their sales from those clients.

For More information on this survey, please refer to http://www.realtor.org/research/reinsights/marketintelligence

*NAR has issued a number of reports based on surveys of international buyers. For those reports, as well as the complete 2010 Profile of International Home Buying (including information about the survey methodology), visit www.realtor.org/research/research/reports.intl.

We have not seen any significant increase in the number of international home buyers in the Bennington VT Real Estate market, but Bennington has rarely been a primary destination for second home buyers.