Category Archives: General

cool roof

Uniflex roof coating lowers electric bills and helps environment

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How to have a Lower Electric bill: New roofing material

Lower electric bills are something we all would like.  Your roof is a huge source of heat.  Traditional asphalt shingles heat up.  You can cook an egg on our hot Texas roofs.  With the right construction, your roof can help you have a lower electric bill.  New roof coatings are available today which create energy efficiency and are good for the environment.  We will explore the difference between traditional asphalt shingles and new polymer materials which are also called cool roofs.  Uniflex coating is one such material you can use.

Asphalt Shingles Trap Heat.

Asphalt shingles are used because they are less expensive and relatively easy to install as compared to other traditional roofing materials.  However, asphalt shingles absorb light and generate a lot of heat.  They can reach summer temperatures of 156F for black shingles and 138 F for white shingles.   The shingles remain hot into the evening hours.  Asphalt shingles contribute to the urban “heat island” effect.  The urban heal island is the phenomenon of urban construction trapping heat and increasing the air temperatures relative to rural environments.  The fact that cities take longer to cool in the evening is directly related to the urban heat island effect.

Asphalt Shingles Negatively Impact the Environment.

Asphalt shingles are composed of 20% asphalt with the balance being made up of granules.  The granules are there to protect the asphalt to extend its useful life.  These granules shed over time, collect in gutters and leach metals into water.  The negative environmental impact does not stop there.  Approximately 11 million tons of asphalt shingles end up in a landfill each year.  Asphalt naturally contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) some of which are carcinogenic (cancer-causing) and may put recycling workers at risk. These types of roofing materials are outlawed in other parts of the developed world.

Advantages of Uniflex Coated Roofs

New polymer coating systems have been developed for roofing materials that have numerous advantages over traditional roofing materials.  These advantage translate to lower environmental impact, lower cost of installation and maintenance and lower overall operating cost of the building.  Some of the advantages are

  1. Lower electric bill. The polymer coatings can reflect up to 85% of the radiant energy.  The roof temperature can be up to 100F cooler than black asphalt.  This lower heat directly translates into lower utility bills.   It reduces the urban heat island effect by reflecting the radiant energy back into space.
  2. Environmentally Friendly. On virgin roofs, the polymer system is applied to the roofing surface.  With existing asphalt roofs, polymer system coats existing asphalt and extends its life, in some instances up to 40 years.  Chemicals are not leached into the water.  Water run-off can be collected.  The material does not go to the landfill.
  3. Lower installation cost. The coating system can be applied for around $2 per square foot.  It is less labor intensive.  It does not require lifting heavy materials or heating tar.  There is no need to remove and dispose of the existing shingle roof.
  4. The polymer system expands and contracts with the roof thus reducing the possibility of cracking. The systems can be warrantied for 10 years. Maintenance involves putting on a new coat to extend the roof life.
  5. Storm resistant. Because the roofs are coated, shingles do not come off in the wind.  Hail does not damage the coating.
  6. Light weight. The polymer system weighs ounces per square foot rather than 2 pounds per square foot.
  7. Tax advantages. The polymer coatings can be considered preventive maintenance and in many instances are fully tax deductible the first year.
  8. Since the material is Energy Star certified, many areas offer rebates on installation.

New construction methods and materials are not only more cost effective; they are environmentally responsible.  Uniflex coated roofs lower electric bills.  Jodywallrealtor.com and Cincero Investment Properties, Inc. build for the future.  Your roof can help provide a lower electric bill.

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Build to Save Energy

Homes that Save Energy and Money

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SIPs are the 21st Century Building Material.

Build a home that saves energy and money .  Structural insulated panels (SIPs) are a high performance building system for residential and light commercial construction.  The panels consist of an insulating foam core sandwiched between two structural facings, typically oriented strand board (OSB).   Here are 6 reasons you should use SIP material in your construction project.

Reason number 1 SIP Saves Energy.

Heating and cooling is a major expense that is not getting cheaper.  SIP’s allow you can save 60-70% on you heating and cooling bills.  That equate to money in your pocket every month.
A 2000 square foot house in Miami can have an electric bill of $40 per month in summer.

Reason number 2 SIP construction is stronger.

SIP building is stronger than traditional stick building.
The wall and roof are stronger and it is easy to achieve designs that withstand 200 mph winds.
Reason 3 SIP Construction reduces waste.
SIP buildings are manufactured to plan at the factory to be shipped and assembled on site.
Traditional building uses raw lumber which is cut to need on the job site.
This process generates a lot of waste.
SIP material has a lower burden on the environment.

Reason 4 SIP Construction is faster.

Because the walls and roof are manufactured in the factory, assembly at the job site happens very quickly.  With the foundation in place, it takes three days to assemble the house and be in the dry.   Total construction time from the foundation can be as fast as 10 days.
Reason 5 SIP Construction uses less labor.  Because the building is made offsite, the number of people needed to construct the building onsite goes down.   Typically a crew of 1 experienced carpenter and 3 general laborers are all it takes.   With the high demand on skilled labor, SIP  construction saves tremendously on labor costs.

Reason 6 Mold, Pest and Flame Resistant.

One type of SIP uses Magnesium Oxide Board (mag board). Construction with this material is mag sip with flamenearly wood free. The resulting structure is therefore not susceptible to mold or rot. It has the added benefits of being termite free and very flame retardant. Mag board can be taped and bedded like sheet-rock and painted. That means no sheet-rock is needed for the interior.  This saves on waste and labor.

 

Conclusion
The 21st century consumer requires greater energy efficiency and environmentally friendly products.  SIP construction meets both of these demands.  So SIP building will ensure your home saves energy and money.  It is great for the environment and your health.

Like my Jody Wall Realtor Facebook page to follow our construction of environmentally friendly houses.

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DFW Real Estate Bull Market

DFW Real Estate Bull Market Continues- July Statistics

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DFW Real Estate Market for July is hot. 

The July Statistics show sellers in control.  

The Dallas Fort Worth real estate for Julu market is still hot and shows no signs of slowing anytime some. 
The most striking metric is the number days on market.

The days on market average for the DFW area is 36.

This is down 7.7% from last year and at the lowest point this century. Homes sales outpace the rate of new listings driving down inventory. Inventory continues for 3 consecutive years of decrease. Inventory is down 6.2% from last year.
According to the law of supply and demand, when we see this kind of pressure on supply should correlate to price pressure. The median house price is up for the third consecutive year.

Overall the median price of a home is up 9.5% from last year. 
Home prices began to rise in 2012 and the rate of rise is accelerating. 
The perfect storm of low inventory, high demand and interest rates remaining and unprecedented lows has meant sellers are in command.

Buyers have little to no negotiating power are paying 98% of listing price.
If you are ready to sell and lock in profit on your capital gains, you need to like the Jody Wall Realtor Facebook page. 
Thank you for watching.

 

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Fire your mutual fund

Real estate investing: Why I fired my mutual fund.

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Real estate Investing beats mutual funds

I fined my mutual fund for good reason.  A few years back, My husband and I pulled our money out of the company 401K and moved it to a self-directed 401k.  We sold every share of stock we owned and cashed in all our stock options.  I received a call from Fidelity trying to talk me out of it.  He said, “Mrs. Wall, we have a team of financial advisers that can help you invest your money.  If you like real estate, can I have someone talk to you about REIT’s.”

I replied, “I will listen to you if you can meet my minimum conditions.  Are you ready?”  He said yes.  I went on, ” If you can guarantee me a minimum of a 20% cash-on-cash return, in cash, tax free year over year, then I will listen to you.”

He said, “Mrs. Wall, you know I cannot do that.”

“Then what qualified you or your team to give me financial advice.  Please send me my money.”

Mutual funds cannot pay you cash the way real estate does.

Walmart does not take mutual fund shares

If you want to retire, you need an income stream.  You need hard currency every month to pay bills.  Unless you are already wealthy, you will not save enough principle to live on at 5% return.  The minimum I will consider for an investment is 20% cash-on-cash.  I have one passive investment that pays 30% per year.  Do the math.  If you have $500,000 earning 20%, that is $100,000 per year.  If that same principal is earning 5%, you have $25,000 per year.  Do you like apples?  How about them apples?

Real estate investments have great returns mostly tax free

Municipal bonds? Give me a break.  I might as well put my money in lottery tickets.  My investment properties not only make my house payment and utility payments each and every month, I do not pay taxes on the money.  I have some property rented Section 8, so your taxes pay me every month and I do not pay income taxes on it.  The money hits my bank every month as regular as a German train.  I love our government and tax code.  I look forward to the first of the month.   My mailbox money arrives.

Jodywallrealtor.com is here for you

Jodywallrealtor.com and Cincero Investment Properties, Inc. exist to help the average person retire well.  We teach people the rules of the game.  We are not special.  We learned this business from the ground up.  We are average people following proven principles.  If you follow conventional wisdom, odds say you will end up at the poverty level upon retirement.  I did not want that for us, so we chose the path less traveled.

Give us a shout.  We would love to hear from you.

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Runnig a Marathon

Establishing metrics is essential to reaching goals.

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Congratulations you set a goal

Setting a goal worthy of investing your life in is a major accomplishment.  Celebrate.  You are now in the top 10%.  Setting the goal is not the same as achieving the goal.  You need an action plan.  You need consistency in your action.  That is still not enough.  You need metrics.

Metrics provide intermediate milestones to celebrate

Achieving a life-long goal is like running a marathon.  Metrics are the mileposts along the way that show tangible proof you are progressing.  They provide intermediate goals to strive towards and reasons to celebrate along the way.  When I ran my first 10k, I would have never made it thinking about the finish line.  When my side began to hurt and I was gasping for air, I would focus on an object just at the edge of my view.  I would monitor my progress towards that object.  Getting there gave me encouragement.  I had a small mental boost.  I thought, “One more down. I can do one more.”  That process took me all the way to the end.

Metrics measure the effectiveness of your action plan

Activity is not accomplishment.  Doing something is not important.  Doing the right thing in the right way is essential.  Metrics provide the mechanism to determine if you are doing the right thing. They help ensure you do not get side tracked.  Life throws a lot at you.  It is easy to focus on the urgent but that does not mean you are doing the important.  Metrics will show when you are busy but not progressing.  Metrics give you a signal it is time to correct your daily routine.

Active Rain provides a set of metrics 

My goal is to grow my business online.  That will certainly not happen overnight.  One intermediate milestone is getting traffic outside AR.  Back up from that and it is showing up on the Google search.  A step back from that would be having people read my posts and commenting.  You can daisy chain that back to your AR rank, Points and post views.

 In my first week and with the help of AR members, I have already reached some of my first milestones.  I posted my first 10 articles.  I have more than 10 followers.  I am number 3 in my city and closing in on the top 100 (141 out of 1,953) in my county and top 1000 ( 1,468 out of 18,466) in my state.  I have my first 1000 page views on my posts.  These things in themselves are not important.  They will not bring me clients.  They do however show that I am progressing in building an online presence.

I am thankful that I have found Active Rain and look forward to the continued journey.

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