The Chicago 77

23 July 2009 – Chicago finally has its first net zero home. Simply stated, a net zero home produces as much energy as it uses. Chicago resident Michael Yannel has built a 2,695 square foot showcase for emerging green technology at 4895 N Ravenswood. The home?s green features include 48 photovoltaic roof panels, a rain [...]

Over the past few months, I have noticed more and more home insurance activity: People picking up houses in foreclosure to fix it up to rent out; Buying foreclosures to move in to eventually; Renovating homes to flip them; People who can?t sell their homes either (1) renting out their homes or (2 ) even [...]

I think there is light at the end of the tunnel. We can certainly see it in our showing activity and in the market. It’s still not an easy market or necessarily a fair market for all involved, but it is changing for the better. Statistics from Illinois Association of Realtors (IAR) definitely back up [...]

I’m going to assume that the family interested in going green does not have the cash available to pay for all the costs of an energy efficiency renovation all at once. You don?t want to use a credit card to finance the purchase, as the interest that you would pay makes the entire process much more costly than needed. So where can you turn?

Over the past few months, the economic downturn has caused many of us to reevaluate our household budgets and seriously reconsider our spending. Along with this comes the direct insurance companies inundating our mailboxes with ?promises? to save you hundreds of dollars on your home insurance. If it sounds too good to be true…they generally [...]

Split face blocks are manufactured by combining two or more blocks together as one larger unit. After a curing period, the units are put through a machine that cuts the stone in half to expose it’s interior aggregates. The amount of  aggregate varies from block to block. There are many different sizes and colors available. Advantages of Split Faced [...]