Includes GPS-enabled listings along with home values from eppraisal.com, Zillow, and Cyberhomes

Although I am not currently in the market for a new home, I tend to window shop the “for sale” market just for fun.  ZipRealty just made it even more fun with their iphone app, which allows you to find homes for sale, as well as recently sold homes, based on your current location.

All fun aside, this is a really useful app for prospective home buyers.  Geo-targeted searches can be filtered based on property characteristics — such as property type, price range, and number of bedrooms/bathrooms — making it easy to identify potential homes while out house hunting.  Once listings are identified, there’s no more jumping out of the car and running through the lawn to retrieve property flyers. Each listing includes home details and photos, along with aggregated home valuations from eppraisal.com, Zillow, and Cyberhomes.

The app is free and can be found by searching the easily by searching the App Store for ZipRealty.

There are many ways of giving your home a makeover and many reasons to do so, but one of the best reasons is to make your living space more comfortable, more cozy, and more like home. One often neglected area during renovations is the bedroom – we all think of redoing our kitchens, our bathrooms and even the living rooms. But when it comes to our bedrooms, we don’t seem to want to change anything about it. Perhaps it is the fact that not many people see your bedroom; perhaps it is because you don’t think renovating your bedroom adds to the value of your home; whatever the reason, it’s time to put it to bed and use these five simple and easy ways to redo your bedroom:

• Revamp the curtains: If your bedroom windows are large, use curtains to good effect to dress up your room. Instead of going in for the readymade stuff available in stores, buy suitable material and get them stitched to match the size and tone of your windows. When you color code your curtains and the walls in your room, you provide a first and lasting effect to people who walk in.
• Invest in new bed sheets and covers: Do up your bed in bright colors and bold textures, suitably in colors that match your wall and curtains. And make sure you have more than just one pillow on the bed. Put a few on the cover just for effect, and make sure your bed is neat at all times, except when you’re in it off course.
• Use a carpet to good effect: A small carpet that fits in by the side of your bed or under your table in the bedroom makes a good addition to any bedroom. Make sure the carpet is soft to step on because it’s what you’re going to be stepping in every morning when you wake up.
• Throw in some personal effects: No bedroom is perfect without a few personal effects, so put up some pictures in vantage positions. Bring in a lamp for your table and keep a vase of fresh flowers on your window sill or on the bedside table. If you like to read, bring in a book case as well, one that goes with the décor of your room.
• Do up your lighting: The best way to provide your bedroom with both comfort and good looks is through the lighting – get help from a professional as to where to position your lights so that they are bright enough without being obtrusive. When your bedroom is well lit, yet not too bright, it shows all your other accessories in good light, literally.

This guest article was written by Elizabeth Johnson, who regularly writes on the topic of online construction management degrees.

Let’s face it, the housing market will struggle as long as potential home buyers are concerned over job stability and the state of the economy. Mortgage rates may be low, and incentives like the first-time home buyer tax credit seem good on the surface, but the fact remains that until the economy gets on its feet, many are not willing to get into what they may consider a risky investment.

That’s where energy efficiency comes in. That’s right — green homes, sustainable energy, home improvements and renovations that are good for the environment — these things can actually improve the housing market (not to mention climate change). How so you ask? For starters, today’s buyer’s are more interested in homes that are energy efficient. A home with a lower utility bill is important when faced with uncertainty. Not to mention, buyers may be inclined to invest knowing there are tax breaks if they engage in green improvements in their new home. More indirectly, and perhaps more positively, energy efficiency creates green jobs, and that is just plain good for local economies.

The U.S. Conference of Mayors commissioned the “Green Jobs in U.S. Metro Areas” report, which documented the impact green jobs have had and can have on major U.S. cities. It only stands to reason that these same effects would be seen in smaller metro areas as well.

Some of the benefits to the economy cited in this study are:

• Improved tax rolls and sales as people gain stable employment in good green jobs.
• Carbon reductions that benefit city governments, homes and businesses in communities that concentrate on carbon reduction.
• Improvements to the balance of trade as we stop importing so much fossil fuel and start to export new energy efficient technologies.
• Improvement in the air and water quality surrounding communities that choose to reduce emissions and the impact that these savings have cumulatively on the earth by reducing the rate of climate change.

Some green home improvements include:

• Install solar powered water heaters and energy-efficient appliances
• Replace older heating and air conditioning units with high efficiency systems
• Use sustainable materials in new construction
• Replace insulation and tighten air ducts
• Seal windows, doors, fireplaces, and cracks in the exterior of the home

Learn more about creating a green home at The Green Home Guide.

In the August 2009 eppraisal.com National Real Estate Market Analysis report, released today, 76 percent of the markets tracked saw an increase in the median home value, which was up from 50 percent in the prior report (July). In the current report, the trend continues with 80 percent of the markets tracked by eppraisal.com showing positive gains in home values. Even larger markets that have taken substantial hits in the past are showing continued recovery. For example, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego markets all saw over a 5 percent increase in the median home value with 17.8 percent, 6.7 percent, and 7.7 percent increases.

The full list of all 138 markets can be found in our market report. However, here are some of the most notable highlights.

• Santa Cruz-Watsonville, Calif., jumped 32 percent to a median value of $515,000.
• The Orlando-Kissimmee, Fla., area has stopped the decline and has increased by 1.6 percent to a median value of $152,900.
• Bend, Ore., and Sherman-Denison, Tex., were the only areas (tracked by eppraisal.com) that saw double digit declines in home values. Bend, Ore., dropped by 11.6 percent to a median value of $175,000, and Sherman-Denison, Tex., decreased by 11.2 percent to a median value of $86,568.
• Honolulu, HI, had a modest decrease of 1.6 percent to a median value of $555,000.
• Salt Lake City, UT, also had a modest decrease, with a 1.4 percent drop in value to a new median of $227,992.

The National Real Estate Market Analysis report tracks median sales price of residential homes in 138 markets across the continental U.S. compares data on homes sold in the last three months ending July 2009 with homes sold in the previous three months beginning on February 2009 and ending April 2009. This report compares data on homes sold in the last three months ending July 2009 with homes sold in the previous three months beginning on February 2009 and ending April 2009.

See the full list of national home value rankings.

Through August 2009, 47 loan service providers have offered more than 570,000 homeowners loan modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) initiated by the Obama Administration. Of these, 47 service providers have successfully converted over 360,000 modifications, a number that Assistant Secretary for Financial Institutions Michael S. Barr is optimistic about. However, in a testimony before the House Financial Services Committee, Barr said he wants to see more conversion of trial offers from loan service providers — namely 500,000 by November 1.

Let’s see which providers top the list:

While Wells Fargo & Co. and Bank of America Corp. improved the number of modifications in August over July, they still come in near the bottom at 11% and 7% respectively.

See the full Service Provider Report through August 2009

Other programs initiated by the Obama Administration to address the housing crisis include:

Assistant Secretary Barr says, “Our progress in implementing these programs to date has been substantial, but we recognize that much more has to be done to help homeowners.”

What do you think?