The Green Build Committee of the Home Builders Association of the Grand Traverse Area is sponsoring GRAND TRAVERSE GREEN 2010 to educate homeowners and industry professionals on the virtues and practicalities of green building and design.

On Friday evening, February 5, a presentation will be offered to the general public on what green building represents in today's market in terms of tangible benefits: energy savings, quality of life and health, durability of structures and resultant financial savings.

On Saturday, February 6, an all-day workshop will be present for builders, architects and designers, bankers, real estate agents, appraisers, materials suppliers, building inspectors, and everyone else, including homeowners, who has a financial or business interest in the emerging green market. The presenters are all highly qualified professionals who have had real, positive impact on the green building field in Michigan as well as in the United States as a whole.

Eco-friendly homes are hot these days, and one way to make a property more saleable is to add a little green.

Real estate Web site HomeGain asked about 1,000 real estate practitioners to recommend low-cost green improvements. Here are some of their suggestions:
 

Selling a home in the dead of winter might seem ill-advised, particularly considering the state of the economy, but some experts think that making the decision to wait until spring to list the property could be a mistake.

Government incentives will likely have a big impact in 2010, with many buyers determined to sign a contract before the April 30 tax credit deadline.

5 Home Remodeling Trends for the New Year

Whether SELLING or STAYING in their home for the long haul, here are a few improvement ideas for home owners to consider in the New Year.

Remodeling and decorating trends in 2010 are likely to reflect the fact that many home owners are settling in for the long haul.

Here are some ideas for updating homes and gardens from decorators and leading real estate practitioners:

Visit HouseLogic, NAR's new consumer site, to find everything you need to protect, maintain, and enhance the value of your home.
 

NMC  Energy Courses
Winter 2010 Energy Courses: non-credit classes in renewable energy and energy efficiency technology.

Green Remodeling and Retrofitting for the Homeowner
Feb 2 through Feb 23, Tuesdays 7-9 PM
NMC Aero Park Campus

The state of  Michigan's Helping Hand web site can help you find a job, get training, write a resume, suggestion on health coverage, receiving cash assistance, preventing foreclosure, finding shelter. These are just a few of the resources that Michigan is offering through their new web site michigan.gov/Helping Hand.

Welcome to the new taar.com!  Some of the changes you'll see as you explore the site include:

• A new look geared towards providing you with more information about Northern Michigan living and real estate
• Improvements to the listings search, including open house information and integration with a new Facebook application
• A revamped system for area rentals and vacation rentals

Please bear with us while we continue to adjust the new site.  You can help us out by sending any problems or quirks you encounter to newsite@taar.com.

Welcome to the new look of the enhanced taar.com website. For those of you who are longtime visitors, we hope that you will like the changes we’ve made. These changes reflect a new business philosophy that has become the core of a continuous improvement program. This program, known internally at the TAAR as the 21st Century Association Modernization Project, or 21 CAMP, is a comprehensive plan to implement continuous improvement strategies that will benefit the public, our members and our staff.

This website is our conduit to you and it provides us a with a wonderful showcase to highlight some beneficial information and insight into our region and the local real estate market. This is a fantastic region in which to live, work and play and we hope that you will make this site one of your favorites and visit us often.

All the best,
Kim