Winter is here! Right now it’s raining on sunny Cape Cod, but the freeze is coming.

Preventative maintenance is the key to keeping your Cape Cod home in tip top shape. Ben Franklin said “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” That certainly applies to preparing your home for the onslaught of winter.

Here’s a handy and comprehensive checklist for getting your home ready for winter:

Winterizing your Cape Cod Home

Winterizing your Cape Cod Home

Cape Cod is a pretty healthy place. But how do you ensure that your Cape Cod home is as pleasant and healthy as possible?

Feng shui is an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China. It is a complex body of knowledge that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure health and good fortune for people inhabiting it. 

Feng means wind and shui means water. In Chinese culture wind and water are associated with good health, thus good feng shui came to mean good fortune, while bad feng shui means bad luck, or misfortune. 

Here are some easy tips on how to make sure your home, or office, is full of good vibrations, good feng shui.

Feng shui in your Cape Cod Home can improve your heart & health

Feng shui color tips for your Cape Cod Home

Feng Shui Kitchen Tips for Cape Cod Homes

Do you have a story about building a home?

Have friends shared with you their nightmare of trying to get a house built on Cape Cod?

Are you considering renovating your home, or building a Cape Escape?

Hear the testimonial of Tino & Elaine Kamarck as they describe their experience. This short video lets you peek into the world of custom home building, walking distance to the beach on Cape Cod.

With renters booked for the whole summer, will the home be finished? Will the job cost run over the budget? Screaming matches with the builder? Stress everywhere? Watch the Kamarck's describe their experience...

Cape Cod Beach-Side Home Customer Testimonial

Cape Cod Beach-Side Home Customer Testimonial

The Best of 2013 is here!

Everything from the best food processor to new refrigerators that dispense sparkling water, advanced faucets, goof-proof grout, really quiet stove hood fans, speedy dishwashers, dual-flushing toilets, excellent toothbrushes, porcelain faux-wood planks, cool tools…you name it, the Best of 2013 is here!

This Old House does a great job with their annual round-up of great products that will enhance your house and life. They’ve done lots of testing, and some of their selections are sure to surprise you. There are some great gift ideas here too.

Whether  you’re building a new home on Cape Cod, planning a renovation project, or just want to know about the best new ideas, check out this link:

Best New Products for your Cape Cod Home

Best New Products for your Cape Cod Home

FEMA Flood Insurance Rate increases may be postponed for several years. But their requirements for construction in flood zones are in full force. These requirements may be difficult to accommodate, but worse yet is effecting the repair or improvement and not adhering to the new FEMA requirements.

There is a lot to consider when evaluating even the simplest repair or maintenance item on a home in a coastal flood zone. Even replacing roof shingles is considered by FEMA to be an “improvement”, potentially requiring the existing structure to be modified to meet the flood zone requirements.

This 27-page report is very comprehensive, and straight from FEMA. It’s a quick read, and downloadable. It may catalyze some questions, so don’t hesitate to call us any time for help or clarification: 508-394-3090

FEMA Construction Requirements for Cape Cod Flood Zones

FEMA Construction Requirements for Cape Cod Flood Zones

The newly updated FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps have shaken up the real estate market here on Cape Cod. Interest in waterfront homes has been tempered, while those homes for sale just outside of the new flood zones have seen increased activity. The market is awash with anecdotes about huge insurance rate increases on specific homes, which has caused much concern.

On Tuesday some legislation was filed that would delay the implementation of Flood Insurance rate Increases by approximately 4 years. The bill has been sent to the Senate, so there’s no final word on the new situation.

Although insurance rate increases will hopefully be delayed, there is no talk of modifying FEMA’s Flood Zone Construction Requirements. If you’re considering a renovation on your waterfront home, now’s the time.

Here’s a link to the House bill that was sent to the Senate. Chances are the final bill will be very similar:

http://democrats.financialservices.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1602

http://democrats.financialservices.house.gov/press/PRArticle.aspx?NewsID=1602

We’ve survived the Great Recession.

The market on Cape Cod and throughout the Northeast is coming back.

Desirable shore front areas have benefitted from strong demand, even multiple Offers on homes for sale. What does the market look like going forward? How are banks viewing this market? Can we expect lending to loosen up a little? And what about the outlook for retirees and second home buyers?

Here is some great insight from two bankers and a regional real estate company. It’s a quick read with some very good information:

Cape Cod 2013 Housing Market Discussion

Cape Cod 2013 Housing Market Discussion

Although the new FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps have significantly impacted thousands of properties on Cape Cod, the appeals haven’t been strong. Here’s a good report from the Cape Cod Times on the situation:

Cape Cod Times article: "FEMA map appeals trickle in"

Cape Cod flood map appeals trickle in

By CHRISTINE LEGERE

clegere@capecodonline.com

October 24, 2013

CHATHAM — Despite the flap over the recently released federal flood insurance risk maps, Chatham was the only Barnstable County town to file an official appeal of map designations by the Oct. 17 deadline.

Several individual property owners appealed, and their methods varied from simple emails to multipage filings with accompanying engineering.

Most may not meet the Federal Emergency Management Agency's requirements.

The purpose of the FEMA-produced flood maps, expected to become effective in June, is to more accurately reflect an area's risk of flooding during a major storm.

The new maps put more properties into flood-risk zones in many communities. In Dennis, for example, 4,000 new properties were added to risk areas.

Those designations, coupled with dramatic premium increases for flood insurance contained in the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, could cost property owners plenty.

Chatham Selectman Sean Summers said concern for the town's residents prompted his board to appeal on their behalf.

"There are people who could lose their homes," Summers said.

FEMA required towns and property owners to submit technical data with their appeals sufficient to refute federal findings.

Over the bridge, Marshfield, Duxbury and Scituate hired consultants to counter federal data on base flood elevation, which is the elevation surface water can reach in a 100-year flood.

Summers said Chatham wasn't given enough time to meet the federal requirements, so the selectmen sent a letter asking that it be considered an official appeal. They called FEMA's map-modeling too generalized, and complained the maps had not undergone peer review. They added that FEMA's criteria for appeal was far too complicated and expensive.

"We fully realize we haven't technically complied with the requirements for appeal," Summers said. "They were requiring science, but we wanted to at least have a placeholder."

The selectmen also included a technical paper on base flood elevations in the area written by a local surveyor. "That was the closest thing to technical data I could think of," Summers said. "It was an effort to fit in their box."

Some Chatham property owners filed their own appeals, including a group of neighbors on the north side of town and two property owners from West Chatham.

While Brewster didn't appeal risk maps, Conservation Administrator James Gallagher did submit comments on Hamilton Cartway, which had been placed in the flood zone.

"I asked about their elevation data," Gallagher said. "This is a neighborhood with hills."

A group of Dennis neighbors on Dr. Lords Road submitted a formal appeal along with some engineering to support it.

Yarmouth Town Planner Kathleen Williams said local officials did not appeal but instead sent a letter to state and federal legislators, requesting a delay of implementation of both the maps and the Biggert-Waters Act.

Williams said only one property owner sent a letter appealing the risk map designation, "but it didn't have any paperwork with it."

Several appeals from property owners in Beach Point and a single one from the Pamet Harbor area were submitted in Truro, said Charleen Greenhalgh, assistant town administrator and town planner.

They ranged from short emails to letters outlining the historical data on the property. She was unsure how many would meet FEMA's requirements.

"I blame it on FEMA for not giving good directions," Greenhalgh said. "People weren't sure how to do it. They were confused, and understandably so."

Falmouth Town Planner Brian Currie said the same was true in his community, with protests ranging from simple letters to packets with technical backup. Currie pointed out property owners would continue to have the ability to hire a surveyor and apply for a letter of map amendment, even though the appeal deadline has passed.

Meanwhile, state and federal legislators are working to delay implementation of the Biggert-Waters Act and are lobbying for a peer review of the maps.

Last week, state Attorney General Martha Coakley and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, D-Winthrop, introduced a bill that would prohibit mortgage companies from requiring homeowners to purchase flood insurance in amounts greater than the outstanding balance on their loans. The bill would also allow homeowners to opt for higher deductibles.

Is my house in a FEMA Flood Zone? Is it in a Velocity Zone? Has it moved from the 500 Year Flood Plain to the 100 Year Floor Plain?

Buying on Cape Cod? Is the property in a Flood Zone?

We use the maps every day. Now you can access the information on the internet. Here are the web addresses for the FEMA Flood Zone Maps for every town on Cape Cod. 

The FEMA maps can be difficult to read, and challenging to find. We have done the work for you, and have created a list of every URL for every town's FEMA Flood map resource.

Guide to FEMA Flood Map web pages for Cape Cod

Guide to FEMA Flood Map web pages for Cape Cod

Check the maps to make sure you know where your house is in relation to the new FEMA Flood Zones. Download the list, and click on the link for your town's FEMA Map Resource.

The new FEMA Flood Rate Insurance Maps have created a lot of questions and concern in coastal areas, like Cape Cod. Thousands of properties have been affected by the newly determined Flood Zones.

The new FEMA Maps affect insurance rates, and construction techniques. Furnaces, electrical panels and other mechanicals must be located above Base Flood Elevation (BFE) as described by the new maps. What does this mean for properties in the flood zone? What can be built? Must new houses be built on stilts? What will they look like?

Here is a short video of a new REEF Built home in the flood zone. This home is right on Bass River, literally steps away from the water. It is a great example of excellent design and building techniques that create a beautiful waterfront home, in the flood zone, with wonderful curb appeal. See how the mechanicals are installed, hanging from the ceiling of the lower level.

If you’re in the Flood Zone, or are considering a home near water on Cape Cod, there are methods to achieve your dream home.

Home in Flood Zone built to FEMA Spec's on Cape Cod by REEF Builders

Home in Flood Zone built to FEMA Spec's on Cape Cod by REEF Builders