Brooklyn Real Estate Q&A and Info

According to an article in the New York Post on April 29, New York-area foreclosures are up 34 percent for the first quarter of this year, which is far lower than the national rate that roughly doubled over last year.  In Brooklyn, one in every 241 homeowners is now in the foreclosure process. That is more than double the number of Brooklyn households in that situation a year ago.

This is not good news, however, it could be worst.  The article also brings out that the state with the most foreclosures is Nevada, where one in 54 households is in foreclosure.  Now that’s bad.

Happy Earthday,

Even though we live in a large urban center where there isn’t much green, we can still be good citizens of Earth and do our part to help clean up our environment.  Here are a few tips on being green in Brooklyn.

1. Use Compact Florescent Light Bulbs - According to www.energystar.gov,  if every American home replaced just one light bulb with an ENERGY STAR qualified bulb, we would save enough energy to light more than 3 million homes for a year, more than $600 million in annual energy costs,
   and prevent greenhouse gases equivalent to the emissions of more than 800,000 cars.  That’s amazing!
2. Unplug Appliances That Aren’t Being Used.  Many appliances, such as blenders, draw electricity even though they are not in use.  Unplug and save energy.
3. Use a Notebook Instead of a Desktop.  Notebook computer’s use less energy then a desktop computer.
4. Recycle.   In New York City, every resident must recycle paper, cardboard, beverage cartons, bottles, cans, metal, foil, and fall leaves.  For more information on what and how to recycle, go to  nyc wastes less.  Now that you know what and how to recycle, a good questions is, why bother?  It takes less energy to make recycled products then create products from virgin materials.  In most cases, making products from recycled materials creates less air pollution and water pollution than making products from virgin materials.   We all want clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, so recycle!
5. Use Glass Storage Containers Instead of Plastic.  Storing food in reusable glass containers instead of plastic wrap or plastic “tupperwear” helps the environment.
6. Turn Lights Out When You Leave a Room.  Leaving a light on when there’s nobody around to make use of it is a waste of energy that you will definitely feel in your wallet
7. Take 4 Minute Showers.   By reducing your time in the shower from seven minutes to four, you could save over 6,604 gallons a year.
8. BYOB (Bring Your Own Bag) When Shopping.  The plastic bags you carry your groceries home in are horrible for the environment.  Bring your own cloth bags to the store instead.
9. Install a Dual Flush toilet.  If you are remodeling your home or apartment, considering installing a dual flush toilet.  It often takes far less water to get rid of “number one” then it does for “number two”.    Studies of dual flush toilets show that using a dual flush system can reduce water consumption by up to 67%.
10. Take Public Transportation.  To me, the price of gas is making riding the bus or subway look better and better all the time.

These are just a few suggestions on how to help keep Mother Earth clean, beautiful and life sustaining.

Standing on the bus stop yesterday, a woman I chat with often noted the skeleton of one of the high-rise buildings springing up on Flatbush Avenue Extension and asked, “What’s going on in Downtown Brooklyn?  Are they trying to turn it into a mini Manhattan or something?”  The short answer to that question is “yes”.

Here is an interesting article that was published in the New York Post this past November. 

Brooklyn Reaches for The Skies - 11-2007

Its a very interesting reading.

My name is Elaine Cooper and I’m a Licensed Real Estate Representative with Weichert Realtors - H.P. Greenfield in Clinton Hill Brooklyn.

I’ve been involved in the Real Estate industry in many capacities over the past 10 years, from ownership to Real Estate Sales to Property Management.

I love Real Estate (talking about it, touring it, showing it, decorating it), and I love helping people, so I decided to combine the two and create this blog. The goal of this blog is to help as many people as possible live the American Dream of owning their own home (or coop or condo or whatever your choice is) by providing up-to-date information about the Real Estate market and home ownership in Brooklyn New York.

Welcome, and I hope you find this blog useful.