Patty Manzi's Tri-Valley Real Estate Blog

Pumpkin Gingerbread

• 3 cups sugar

• 1 cup vegetable oil

• 4 eggs

• 2/3 cup water

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

• 2 tsp ground ginger

• 1 tsp ground allspice

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp ground cloves

• 3-1/2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking soda

• 1-1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 tsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175degrees C). Lightly grease two 9×5 inch loaf pans.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil and eggs; beat until smooth. Add water and beat until well blended. Stir in pumpkin, ginger, allspice cinnamon, and clove.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and baking powder. Add dry ingredients to pumpkin mixture and blend just until all ingredients are mixed. Divide batter between prepared pans.

Bake in preheated oven until toothpick comes out clean, about 1 hour.

http://allrecipes.com

Trim a Safe Tree

1. When purchasing an artificial tree, look for the label “Fire Resistant.”

2. When purchasing a live tree, check for freshness. A fresh tree is green, needles are hard to pull from branches and do not break when bent between your fingers.

3. When setting up a tree at home, place it away from heat sources. Monitor water levels and keep the stand filled with water.

4. In homes with small children, take special care to avoid sharp, weighted or breakable decorations, keep trimmings with small removable parts out of the reach of children who could swallow or inhale small pieces.

For full article visit: www.cpsc.gov

Kitchen Tips for an Energy-Wise Holiday

Oven Tips

The turkey is traditionally stuffed early in the morning and roasted for hours. Since it’s a long, slow cook, there’s no need to preheat your oven, even when the recipe suggests it. This also holds true for a holiday ham. In fact, unless you’re baking breads or pastries, you may not need to preheat the oven at all.

Image via Wikipedia

Don’t open the oven door to take a peek at what’s cooking inside. Instead, turn on the oven light and check the cooking status through the oven window. Opening the oven door lowers the temperature inside—by as much as 25 degrees—which increases cooking time and wastes energy.

As long as your oven is on, cook several items at the same time. Just make sure you leave enough room for the heat to circulate around each casserole and pie plate.

In an electric oven, you can turn the heat off several minutes before your food is fully cooked. As long as the oven door remains closed, enough heat will be stored inside to finish cooking your meal. The same principle applies to your electric range-top—the metal heating elements stay hot even after the electricity is turned off.

If you use glass or ceramic pans, you can turn your oven temperature down 25 degrees, and foods will cook just as quickly.

Refrigerator Tips

In addition to your stove, your refrigerator and freezer also get a real workout over the holidays. While newer refrigerators are much more energy efficient than older ones, they remain one of the largest energy consumers in your house, often accounting for as much as 15 percent of your home’s total energy usage.

Help your refrigerator and freezer operate efficiently and economically by keeping the doors closed as much as possible so the cold air doesn’t escape. However, leaving the door open for a longer period of time while you take out the items you need is more efficient than opening and closing it several times.

Dishwasher Tips

According to research, a load of dishes cleaned in a dishwasher requires 37 percent less water than washing dishes by hand. However, if you fill the wash and rinse basins instead of letting the water run, you’ll use half as much water as a dishwasher.

If you opt to use the dishwasher, wash full loads only. If you must rinse your dishes before loading them, use only cold water so you’re not running up your energy bill by heating water unnecessarily.

Image via Wikipedia

Don’t forget to use the energy-saving cycles whenever possible. Dishwashers that feature air power or overnight dry settings can save up to 10 percent of your dish washing energy costs.

For more information and full article visit www.consumerenergycenter.org/tips/holiday.html

There has been much publicity in the media, and no doubt from your local real estate agent, that the time has come that house payments may be less expensive than rent payments.

While this is certainly true in some geographic areas, like right here in the Pleasanton & Tri-Valley areas, there is more to maintaining a household than the actual house payment itself.  Once you make the leap from renter to homeowner, many maintenance issues and expenses that a landlord has taken care of now become the responsibility of the homeowner.  These additional expenses could wipe out any monthly savings you were expecting to gain in your reduced payment.

For example:

• Utilities – as a homeowner these are now solely your responsibility (water, garbage, gas/electric, cable, phone, internet) .
• Property Taxes – in Alameda County, taxes are approximately 1.25% of the purchase price of the home.  ($500,000 home = $6250 year in property taxes, or $520.84 per month).
• HOA Fees – if you buy in a homeowners association, be prepared to pay monthly.  The cost depends on amenities at the complex (pool, common areas, maintenance, etc.)  Do your homework on this!
• Yard maintenance – you now have to buy a lawn mower, edger, blower, tree/shrub trimmer OR hire a gardener
• Pool maintenance – you must consult with an expert at your local pool store on how to maintain your pool, then purchase chlorine, a brush, net, and other chemicals and cleaning supplies OR hire a pool service to maintain your pool.
• General Home Repairs and Appliances – the home you buy might be in great shape when you buy it, but over time, you will need to maintain many things that may have been taken care of by a landlord while you were renting.  New water heater = $1000; New heater = $3000; new air conditioner = $5000 +; new refrigerator = $2500; washer/dryer=$1500, New Roof – $10,000+; along with various other repairs like, leaky faucets, plumbing leaks, plumbing stoppages, electrical issues, painting, flooring, garage doors/openers, leaky windows, roof leaks, chimney cracks, fences & gates,  the list goes on.
• Insurance – if you have a mortgage, you will be required to carry homeowners insurance on your property. The cost of the insurance is based on the replacement value of your home.  For example on my 1800 sf home in Pleasanton, my annual insurance is approximately $700.  If you are in a flood zone, add another $500+ per year.  If you want Earthquake Insurance, add some more $$.

So, when you are planning to make the leap from renting to homeownership, make sure you consider ALL the expenses you will incur, not just the amount of your house payment. Some of the expenses can be tax deductible, but many are not.

As always, it is a good idea to consult with a real estate professional, professional lender, and CPA to help you gather information to assist you in your home buying decision.

The Pleasanton Weekly, Pleasanton Chamber of Commerce, and Bay East Association of Realtors have teamed up to host the annual real estate town hall meeting to inform the community on the status of the local market.  The meeting will be held tonight at the Veterans Hall on Main Street @ 7:00pm.

Click the link below for details from The Pleasanton Weekly.

http://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/show_story.php?id=6726&e=y