Taxes & Financial Aid - Saving for Your Kids' Education. Maryland schools are ranked highly.

BE CAREFUL WHEN SAVING FOR YOUR KIDS' EDUCATION Thinking of moving to the beach?  Ocean City MD homes for sale - ShoreFun4U-Susan Antigone - Real Estate Town Advocate can help you with neighborhood schools and statistics.   Ask us.

Plan for Taxes    and Financial Aid Here's a little-known secret for parents planning to send their children to college in the future: Some of the tax-saving moves you make now could hurt your student's chances for getting financial aid later.  It's because of the way the financial aid system treats different assets. Retirement plans and IRAs don't count for college aid purposes. You're not expected to break into these accounts to pay for tuition. Another key point: The college aid formula requires 35 percent of the assets in your  child's name to be used for college costs. But the government-mandated formula only expects about 5.5 percent of the money in the parent's name to be spent. You're better off keeping accounts in your own name, especially during the last two years of high school, which is generally when you'll be asked to start providing tax returns. Don't assume you're not eligible for assistance. With the high cost of college today, many schools now have programs available to relatively well-off families if they meet certain qualifications. For example, your child might be able to get a "merit award" based on high standardized test scores and superior grades.  The best strategy: If you expect to apply for financial aid, don't hold back placing money in your own retirement plan to put away savings in a college account in your child's name. Contributions to retirement accounts are usually tax-deductible and the earnings are tax deferred until withdrawn. On top of these tax breaks, your family may also become eligible for more financial aid. Remember that you can usually tap retirement accounts for college money. Many 401(k) plans allow loans to be taken. And you can generally withdraw a limited amount from your IRAs penalty-free to pay higher education costs for yourself, children or grandchildren. Tax laws and tax rules are constantly being updated and interpreted. This article contains general information, so please discuss your individual situation with a trusted tax adviser before making tax decisions.

Energy Audits - Save $$, explore home energy saving advice.

At the Ocean City MD beach, the winds kick up. Having an energy audit saves you money because your home is sealed and air leaks diminished. Homes for sale. ShoreFun4U at Long & Foster. http://www.houselogic.com/home-advice/saving-energy/professional-energy-audits-the-costs-and-benefits/

ShoreFun4U - Ocean City, MD Beach Lifestyle, Events and Home Ideas: Sunset Cove - Ocean City MD - waterfront property ...

ShoreFun4U - Ocean City, MD Beach Lifestyle, Events and Home Ideas: Sunset Cove - Ocean City MD - waterfront property ...

Are you renting your home?   Sometimes owning a home costs less each month then the rental fee being paid.  Ask your Realtor to do a comparison for you and you might be surprised that you can afford a home.

ShoreFun4U - Ocean City, MD Beach Lifestyle, Events and Home Ideas: Sunset Cove - Ocean City MD - waterfront property ...

ShoreFun4U - Ocean City, MD Beach Lifestyle, Events and Home Ideas: Sunset Cove - Ocean City MD - waterfront property ...

Are you a Seller attempting to Sell your Home? May want to reconsider if money is worth the time?

Here is a list of some of the people a seller will have to be prepared to negotiate with.
Homes for Sale - ShoreFun4U - Susan Antigone at Long & Foster Real Estate


http://www.keepingcurrentmatters.com/2013/11/05/fsbos-must-be-ready-to-negotiate/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+KeepingCurrentMatters+%28Keeping+Current+Matters%29

Aging Homes May Present Big Bargains - Beach to Bay Homes in Ocean City MD are no different.

Aging Homes May Present Big Bargains

New Construction or an older home?  Buyers can purchase at lower price points and face less competition from institutional investors," who tend to buy newer homes.  Most homes sold in Ocean City MD are older and many require some updates.  Even highrise condominiums require upkeep.   For an update on Homes for Sale in Ocean City MD. Call Susan Antigone - ShoreFun4U at Long & Foster.  I'll give you the scoop as your Real Estate Town Advocate for Ocean City MD.  emal:  susan@shorefun4u.com

Salvaged 747 Airplane Becomes a Hillside Home in Malibu.

Houzz Tour: A Salvaged Airplane Becomes a Soaring Hillside Home

Made from a retired 747, this modern house in Malibu shows how architecturally stunning reuse can be.

Homes for sale in Ocean City MD are far more traditional.  Townhomes, Single-Family, Condominiums.

Only sand, sea and flat lands at the beach.   Beach to Bay real estate is "ShoreFun4U" - but enjoy the photos below of this hillside home. 

John Hill

Houzz Contributor. I am an architect and writer living in New York City.... More 

One of the many aircraft boneyards — where airplanes are taken when they're retired from service — can be found in the Mojave Desert, where natural corrosion is reduced by the dry air. It is here where Francie Rehwald and her architect, David Hertz, traveled in 2005 to select a commercial 747 that would be transformed into a house in the hills above Malibu, California. 

It was a relatively quick jump for Hertz from the initial sketches envisioning a curved ceiling to the reuse of airplane wings, but the house's realization was a much longer process. Not only did the airplane have to be disassembled and shipped via trucks (necessitating closing parts of highways) and helicopters (to bring the 747 pieces those last few miles), but a number of government agencies had to sign off on the creative reuse of the Pan Am aircraft.

So five years after buying the airplane parts for $50,000, Rehwald can finally call the 747 Wing House home. This tour takes a look at the house from the outside to the inside, revealing how it is a unique bit of recycling in the landscape but also how it commands some amazing views of the same.

Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Francie Rehwald
Location: Malibu, California
Size: 4,700 square feet

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

Hertz says the idea of using a 747 came from the fact that each wing covers about 2,500 square feet. In early studies he positioned various wings on a model of the site, with the intent of maximizing views and reducing the structure needed to support the wings.

As realized, the wings step down the terrain to allow views from one level over the lower level. This also has the effect of giving visibility to the wings and creating in-between spaces, such as the one pictured here, where Rehwald can feel like she's in flight.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

From above the house looks like a scattering of plane parts, most prominently the wings. For this and other reasons, the project had to be registered with the FAA, so pilots do not mistake it as a downed aircraft.

Hertz used as much of the plane they purchased as possible — not just the wings that make up the roof of the main residence and master bedroom. A number of related structures (art studio, guesthouse, animal barn and meditation pavilion) are constructed from other parts of the aircraft.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

This view clearly illustrates the way the house steps down the hillside so views can be had from each level. The teardrop section at the end of each roof (where it would have connected to the plane's body) is a great touch, accentuating the thickness of the wings and how they taper to the ends.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

This is my favorite view of the house, where the use of the wings is most dramatic. They have an alien presence in the landscape, as if they are resting in Malibu, just as they rested in the Mojave.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

This photo, taken at dusk, accentuates the transparent nature of walls that serve to capture the view. Concrete walls built into the hillside serve as the primary structure for the roof (wings), thereby enabling the exterior to have so much glass.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

A slightly closer view reveals that the undersides of the wings are very important. Their smooth, reflective surfaces parallel the ground, such that these planes (no pun intended) and the distant horizon shape one's experience of the house.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

From inside it's clear how Hertz used the wings as a means of capturing the amazing view. It's easy to focus on the wings as objects, but their long span and smooth surfaces allow their presence to recede in favor of seeing the earth, sky and horizon.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

But of course the fact the house is partially built from a 747 is undeniable. In areas like this, even as the wing form subsides in the twilight, it reasserts itself through the lights that illuminate the terrace.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

Much of the interior consists of concrete walls, columns and ceilings where the house is built into the hillside. These surfaces are at the service of the glass and views opposite, but they are the logical places for bathrooms, mechanical space and the like, as well as backdrops for art.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

Visible in this photo and the previous one are the clerestory windows that were formed by terracing down the hillside and by propping the wings upon the concrete walls and columns. These high windows bring in additional sunlight from the south, important since most of the full-height glass walls face north.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

The master bedroom is one place where the clerestories of the level below actually make up part of exterior wall. This means that one can see down into (and through) the living area below, but also that the wing of the lower level reaches into Rehwald's bedroom. From here she can step out onto her terrace and walk up onto the wing of the floor below. This is something that — as she mentioned in a recent TV interview — pilots were never able to do during their work.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

Hertz designed the glass walls to be predominantly free of framing (except where they are operable, as in the previous photo). In the master bedroom, that means the corner disappears to embrace a panoramic view of the near and distant hills.

David Hertz & Studio of Environmental Architecture

This last view of the house reinforces the way the three solid surfaces — airplane wing, floor and concrete wall — work together to open up the house toward the prized views. But I'm drawn to the small windows mounted on and in the concrete wall. As Hertz put it, "Like the Native American Indians used every part of the buffalo, it made sense to use as many of the [airplane's] components as possible." The 747 Wing House is full of large and small reminders that reuse is limited only to the creativity of designers and the openness of clients.