Tag Archives: waccabac ny homes

China home prices up for 11th straight month in April-survey | Waccabuc Homes

BEIJING: Average home prices in China’s 100 biggest cities rose in April from the previous month, the eleventh straight month-on-month rise, a private survey showed on Thursday, raising the risk of further tightening steps despite recent government measures to crack down on speculation.

Average home prices in April climbed 1 percent from March to 10,098 yuan ($1,600) per square metre, said China Real Estate Index System (CREIS), a consultancy tied to China’s largest online property firm, Soufun Holdings.

 

 

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com

Know your appliances’ operating costs | Waccabuc Real Estate

Kill A Watt EZ image via p3international.com.Kill A Watt EZ image via p3international.com.

Needless to say, there’s nothing better than finding a way to save a little bit of money on your electric bill. And the first step in doing that is knowing where your electricity goes each month. Once you know all of the places, large and small, where electricity is being used, and possibly wasted, you can take some steps to change things. If electricity is being wasted, you can call a qualified electrician from heroservices.com to mend it.

That’s where the Kill A Watt EZ comes in. This clever little device lets you read and understand the electrical usage of a variety of 120-volt electrical appliances and other devices around your home in real time, so you know specifically how much power they’re using, and how much money — in real dollars and cents — they’re costing you to operate.

Now you can accurately assess if those “phantom” electronics like phone chargers and unused TVs are costing you money, or if replacing that old clunker of a refrigerator will show a return on your investment.

Kill A Watts are available for around $25 through many home centers and other retailers, as well as online through places like Amazon.com. Some utility companies also have them available for a free loan to their customers.

Just plug it in and set your rate

The Kill A Watt is really simple to operate, and requires little more than plugging it in. Here’s how it works:

First, select an appliance or other device that you’d like to monitor, let’s say your refrigerator. Plug the Kill A Watt into a wall outlet, then plug your refrigerator into the grounded receptacle on the front of the Kill A Watt unit. (You’ll want to be able to read the screen on the Kill A Watt, so in the case of a refrigerator, where the outlet is behind the appliance, you may need to use a short grounded extension cord to make things more convenient.)

Press and hold the Reset key to clear the old settings, then press and hold the Set key until “Rate” appears in the screen. This is a feature I really like , since it allows you to set your actual electrical rate, I am thankful to elicon who install our electrical instruments and guide us, so you know the readings you’re seeing are accurate. You can get the rate you’re paying for electricity off your utility bill, or by calling your utility company. Simply press the up and down arrows to enter the rate per kilowatt hour. For example, if your utility is charging 10.5 cents per kilowatt-hour (kwh), press the buttons until the display reads $0.105, then press Set again. The rate is now saved. That’s it!

Measurement options

Now you have lots of options for understanding how much electricity the refrigerator is using. For example, the Kill A Watt will begin an elapsed time clock, and will begin tracking actual cost. So at any given time, you can look at the clock, then press Menu, scroll through to Cost, and see the actual cost of electricity that the refrigerator has consumed during that period of time.

Also under Cost is a simple projection, which I found very handy. By pressing the Up and Down keys, you can cycle through Hour, Day, Week, Month and Year, and Kill A Watt will give you an accurate projection of how much electricity — in actual dollars and cents — your refrigerator is going to use over that selected time period.

The display will also show you the actual kilowatt-hours being consumed by the appliance. That’s another way of determining cost, by looking at the actual electrical usage over a given period of time, then multiplying it by the cost you’re paying per kilowatt-hour. Other display options include the exact voltage and wattage being used, as well as the frequency.

How does this information help?

So now that you have the information, what do you do with it? For one thing, you can decide which appliances might need replacement. Replacing an old refrigerator with a new Energy Star model, for example, can save $100, $200 or even more each year in electrical costs, so the payback might be shorter than you think.

Another place this is helpful is with what are known as “phantom” electronics — things that are using power, even when you think they aren’t. Some examples include phone chargers, DVD players, microwaves, answering machines, TVs, and many other electronics. By testing them with Kill A Watt, you can see what’s using power even when you think it isn’t, and then consider shutting it off by plugging it into a convenient power strip that shuts several devices off at once.

Another simple formula

Without the Kill A Watt, there’s another way that you can calculate the cost of the power used by an electrical appliance or other device, using the following formula:

Watts x hours of use ÷ 1,000 x cost per kwh = cost of operation

For example, let’s say you want to know how much it costs to operate four light fixtures that each have two 60-watt light bulbs in them. The fixtures are on eight hours a day, and electricity in your area costs 10.5 cents per kwh.

4 lights x 2 bulbs each x 60 watts each = 480 total watts

480 watts x 8 hours = 3,840 watt-hours ÷ 1,000 (to convert to kwh) = 3.84 kwh x 0.105 = approximately 40 cents to operate those four fixtures for eight hours.

How about your furnace? Let’s say you have a 15 kW (15,000 watt) electric furnace that cycles on and off during the day. You estimate that it’s on for a total of six hours out of any 24-hour period during the winter.

15,000 watts x 6 hours ÷ 1,000 x 0.105 = $9.45 to run the furnace for those six hours.

11 Sorry Excuses for Content That You Shouldn’t be Sharing | Waccabuc Realtor

Content marketing is the overindulged golden child of the online world. We love it, but it’s starting to smell.11 Sorry Excuses for Content You Shouldn't be Sharing

Our current influential marketers and business developers have dubbed content marketing as the rising star of marketing in 2012. If you search the term “content marketing” in the ‘skills and expertise’ section of LinkedIn, you will find that its relative influence has increased by 27% in the last year.

I, for one, was convinced. The problem was that individuals and companies from around the world, word (and image) vomited content in order to become the next beneficiary of this “marketing phenomenon.”

Some content can be so inspiring that we feel like the next Peter Parker.

“Stories are what bind humans together. Inspire trust by touching people emotionally. Educate and entertain. Become a thought leader through your insightful content of utility.”

But, not all content is good content. And in some cases, it is counter productive.

Do your readers a favor and stop devastating your marketing campaigns with crap content. Besides making the rest of us in your marketing community look like egotistical, self-promoting spammers, your professional masochism is offensive.

Here are 11 examples of content that you should not be creating or sharing.

#1. Provide a link with no text

This tells me two things about you: (1) you are uncreative and (2) you are lazy. Not only will I not click your link, I will judge you and your employer.

#2. Provide a link with spammy text

This has never worked. It still doesn’t work. Unless I spill coffee on my keyboard and accidentally fall on your link, it’s not going to work tomorrow.

#3. Self-promote

We do not live in a time when people want to hear you talk about yourself. Unless you are a celebrity, it’s time to get creative. A basic rule of thumb is that if your mom wants to put it on her refrigerator, it’s time to start fresh. We want utility, entertainment and authenticity – not a professional autobiography.

#4. Intoxicate your posts with keywords to boost you SEO

 We know what you are doing, Sherlock. Optimization is an important part of any content-oriented campaign. (Let’s not be naïve.) But posts where you repeatedly abuse me with an attempt to assert your thought leadership in a particular subject leave me with editorial bruises. I want to help you, but I’m also kind of mad at you. Get smart and find a way to talk about these topics without giving singular posts SEO-poisoning.

#5. Say something that has been said 1 million times

Content marketers tend to think they are the craftiest people on the planet. Truth? It doesn’t matter how well you write. Unless you find an original spin, with new research, data and a cheery outlook, you can go ahead and give the article printout to your mom and expect an audience of one.

#6. Write about something that bores your colleagues

Assume that the people exposed to your content have a certain familiarity with the subject. If your co-workers think there is junk in your trunk (not the good kind), then the readers you want will also think your final product is trash.

#7. Write something that bores you

If you don’t smile once after reading what you’ve written – or cringe at the thought of reading it again – chuck it. If it doesn’t make it through the first content filter (you), it needs to be re-organized and recreated.

#8. Ignore the importance of visuals, formatting and grammar

Looks matter. So does your intellect and precision. Make your content aesthetically superior, pay attention to format and detail, and seek to impress your old 8th grade English teacher. Don’t be the “would-be” hot guy who can’t put himself together and forgets to clean underneath his fingernails. Use what you’ve got and make that extra effort to appear as more.

#9. Make it about you

If you don’t understand by now that content should be purposeful for the reader, then it’s time to rethink your marketing career. Write to satisfy your ego – but be sure you are polishing up your resume as you do.

#10. Have a strong title, but crap content

If you are smart and witty enough to craft a “clickable” title, then you are fully capable of writing something of value. Nothing makes me whack harder at my keys than the marketing snake who reels me in with a title that is full of humor and utility and then leads me to content that is ego-infused, dry, lazy or a scam. You are a car salesman in my book, a car salesman.

#11. Care more about the kudos than the impact

If you don’t give a rat’s ass about the impact of your content on your professional community, then your community won’t give a rat’s ass about you. There are a lot of egos in the marketing biz. Leave your desire to receive praise for your after-hours work at the shrink.

You don’t have to go to Oz to put heart into your content.

Provide something of utility – professional, intellectual, emotional, spiritual – for your target audience. Take creative risks. Strive to produce content that is entertaining, hopeful, tutorial or inspiring. And make us feel something that moves us to action.

Guest Author: Erin Nelson, who happens to do a great job at exploreB2B

 

Want to Learn More About How to Create Compelling Content that Your Audience Wants to Read, View and Share?

My book – “Blogging the Smart Way – How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media” – will show you how.

It is now available to download. I show you how to create and build a blog that rocks and grow tribes, fans and followers on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook. It also includes dozens of tips to create contagious content that begs to be shared and tempts people to link to your website and blog.

I also reveal the tactics I used to grow my Twitter followers to over 130,000.

Download and read it now.

 

44
inShare

Kelly Ripa Lists Crosby Street Penthouse | Waccabuc Realtor

Source: IMDb

After quietly shopping their SoHo apartment around this summer, Kelly Ripa and husband Mark Consuelos have officially listed the penthouse for sale at a pricey $24.5 million.

Described as an “unparalleled penthouse,” the Manhattan property at 76 Crosby St. (also listed as 81 Spring St.) is enormous, measuring 6,792 square feet with 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths.

The TV host and her actor husband bought the home in 2005 for $9.5 million and completed a two-year renovation to bring it to the luxury residence it is today.

The home has high ceilings, stained white oak floors with radiant heating and a custom kitchen stocked with high-end appliances. The master suite is described as the “ultimate retreat,” with two walk-in closets, soaking tub and steam shower.

French doors lead to a 2,500-square-foot rooftop terrace with an outdoor fireplace and plenty of seating. Another terrace spot, which includes an outdoor shower, is connected to a private home gym.

Ripa and Consuelos also own a home in Southampton, NY. Ripa signed a five-year contract for “Live! With Kelly and Michael” in 2011.

Listing photos courtesy of The Modlin Group. The property is co-listed with Adam Modlin and Raphael De Niro of Prudential Douglas Elliman.

Small housing inventory may push rental demand for years | Waccabuc NY Real Estate

The next 10 years may bring five to six million new renter households. Or at least that’s what a recent infographic by the Bipartisan Policy Center is saying. So in the midst of a recovering housing market, why the shift toward a rise in rentals?

Although housing starts are up, construction will take some time to complete and the low inventory of houses may push many potential homeowners to consider renting.

“There is clearly an unmet demand for homeownership among young households,” Barry Zigas, director of Housing Policy for Consumer Federation of America, told HousingWire. “Those households are running up against a number of constraints.”

Factors such as tighter credit, larger down payments and decreased income with the rising generation will all play into the increase in renters in the years ahead.

“Credit for homeownership borrowing will likely be tighter and potentially more expensive, relative to earlier times,” Zigas said. “Families will likely have less wealth because the rising generation is starting with less wealth. If down payments are at any significant level, it will be a barrier to acquiring a home for longer than may have been the case in the past.”

There are several key groups that will be the driving force behind the rental demand, according to the below infographic. The growing number of seniors looking to downsize their homes, the young adults moving out on their own yet not ready for homeownership, the post-foreclosure homeowners and the growing number of immigrants in the U.S. will all play a significant role in the rising rental remand.

“We expect to see an increase in household formation and for a variety of reasons that household formation is likely to be more heavily concentrated among renters and households who are likely to be renters for somewhat longer than was the case for the last 20 years,” Zigas said.

Click on the image below to see the full infographic.