Starting sometime in March, Colorado homeowners will have an extra incentive to upgrade home appliances to those that are more energy-efficient. The Governor’s Energy Office will be handing out rebates to people who purchase certain Energy Star appliances that qualify for the program.

The money used for the rebate program is a part of the Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009—where each participating state is granted a set amount of money available for rebates. Colorado was granted $4.7 million and can be used up until 2012, or whenever the funds are exhausted--whichever occurs first.

As of now, the program does not have a definite launch date, but is expected to happen sometime in March. Once the program launches, all of the specific standards for qualifying appliances will be announced and can be found at the Governor's Energy office.

The program also does not cover the retroactive purchases—so hold off on purchasing any items until all the details of the program are announced.

The program will tentatively include refrigerators, washers/dryers, dishwashers, gas storage water heaters, gas tankless water heaters, gas furnaces, and gas boilers. However, double check that the specific model you plan on purchasing will qualify for the rebate, as not every Energy Star product qualifies. For new construction homes, certain Energy Star compliant homes may also qualify for the rebate.

Questions about specific standards that apply can be sent to the Governor’s Energy office at: rebates@state.co.us

Continue to follow the Governor’s Energy Office web site as the plans and specifications for this program continue to develop.

Our new proprietary magazine, Coldwell Banker Colorado Homes, will make its debut the week of February 22. The Coldwell Banker Colorado Homes March issue will showcase 40 pages of beautiful properties throughout Colorado and will be directly mailed to more than 10,000 homes along Colorado’s Front Range. Coldwell Banker listings advertised in these publications will have a combined distribution of more than 42,000, with a total readership of over 90,000. This listing exposure is something our competition just can’t touch! Additionally, a digital magazine will be created for Coldwell Banker Colorado Homes which will be posted to our company websites, blogs and social networking sites.

Check back in February for the first edition at: www.coloradohomes.com to view the digital edition, or contact Catherine & Dylan today to subscribe to the print magazine.

A big part of keeping our homes healthy and sustainable includes what we bring into our home—even the foods we eat. Which is our monthly healthy home tips topic: organic foods.

The biggest benefit to eating organic foods can come from lower pesticides and harmful chemicals entering our body; but the growing of organic crops also has astronomically beneficial impacts on our environment. Yet, many people may not always see the benefits of organic food, solely because they can’t get beyond the cost factor. While it is true that organic foods to cost more, there are some very smart budgeting tips you can consider when buying organic food.

Firstly, always make sure that the food you buy is certified-organic. The USDA now has the “National Organic Program” which sets the rigid standards that farmers have to follow in order to be a certified-organic food.  And while the USDA sticker may not always accompany some foods in the grocery store, such as fruits and veggies, you can also use the PLU code system to determine which produce items are certified organic. The PLU system was originally implemented in the 50s to speed up the checkout lines at the store by allowing cashiers to scan items (instead of manually entering foods one by one into the register). The neat part about the PLU codes is that it can tell you which items are organic based solely only the number of digits on those stickers. If there are only four numbers on the code, then the produce was conventionally-grown. If there are five digits, the produce is either organic or genetically-modified. Genetically-modified produce codes will start with the number “8”, while the true organic produce codes will begin with a “9”.

Next, when you’re shopping on a budget, it is good knowledge to know which foods have the worst and

the least pesticide content in them when they are conventionally grown. The Environmental Working Group published their lists of the “Dirty Dozen”(the worst level pesticides in produce) and the “Clean 15” (the best level pesticides in produce). Among the list, the five produce items that contain the most pesticides when conventionally grown are peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, celery, and nectarines. On the flip side, the five produce items that contain the least amount of pesticides when conventionally grown are onions, avocadoes, frozen sweet corn, pineapples, and mangoes. So by determining which foods have lower levels of pesticides, you can budget more according by deciding which foods you really should buy organically.

Another thing to consider if you’re buying on a small budget is what foods you actually eat the most in your diet. So if you don’t eat a lot fruits, buying them organically might be a hindrance to your budget. The Growing a Green Family blog site gives some good tips for foods you should always buy organically—and those that you only buy based on your individual diet.  They recommend always buying potatoes, lemons, oranges, limes, spinach, and soy beans organically, as far as produce is concerned. They also recommend you always buy any food items that contain grains (bread, pasta, rice) organically. Just buying whole wheat products doesn’t necessarily reduce the amount of pesticides used in the growing process, and, grains are the one food group where the cost of certified organic grains is relatively closer to prices of conventional grains.

So next time you’re grocery shopping, take these tips into consideration when deciding what makes the cut for your organic budget. And remember, every food you buy organically is not only healthy in the home, but also leaves less of an impact on our environment.

In turbulent times, buyers and sellers appreciate the knowledge and expertise of real estate professionals who can guide them through step of the transaction. One indicator of client satisfaction is that a majority of both buyers and sellers report that they would use the same real estate agent again or recommend that agent to others.

Each year, the National Association of Realtors® compiles data from the entire year to create their "Profile of home buyer and sellers". Here are a few of the highlights from this year's report:

• 47 percent of recent home buyers were first-time home buyers
• The typical first-time home buyer was 30 years old; the typical repeat buyer was 48 years old
• 21 percent of recent home buyers were single females; while 10 percent were single males
• One-third of first time home buyers reported the main reason for purchasing a home was their desire to own a home
• The typical home purchased was 1,800 square feet in size and was built in 1991.
• 90 percent of sellers reported that their home was listed or advertised on the Internet

Overall trends this year have shown that the housing market continues to slowly make progress toward bouncing back from the economic recession. The biggest downfall this past year has been the overwhelming job loss. The next biggest hardship was the loss of home equity, which relates back to job losses, and the battling stock market. For most homeowners, their greatest asset is their home equity, which creates struggles when that value diminshes. Another trend from home owners has shown the emergence of paying off debts, and saving more of their paycheck this year.