Bay Area Home Sale Near 20-Year Low For November

MN is front page news! Maison Nouveau broker Heather Sittig was featured prominently in today's San Francisco Chronicle on the front page of the Business section. You can read the article HERE.

The Real Mortgage Fraud

Great link HERE to an article written for Reason Magazine that discusses the real thieves behind current housing market conditions and lending abuse.

The Perfect Fire

Building the perfect fire has become a lost art form as our lives have gotten busier. This holiday season we would like to share with you and your home the comfort and radiance of a perfectly built fire.

I. Wood Selection
There are many elements to building a great fire but none more important than your choice of timber. Wood is the fuel and, similar to gas for a car, you’re going to get better performance if you’re putting in higher quality – and by higher quality we mean the most “seasoned”. Firewood that hasn’t been split for more than a year should not be burned. Properly seasoned firewood means it has been split for over two years and has had ample time to dry. The drier the wood, the longer, hotter and cleaner it will burn. Seasoned wood looks dark or gray when compared to green wood. If you split a piece of seasoned wood it's white on the inside. It's brittle or gnarly. It has cracks running through each piece, and a lot of little cracks on the inner rings.

Softwood like fir or pine might be ok to burn after one year of seasoning, however the best wood to use are dense hardwoods like madrone, hickory, live oak, walnut and eucalyptus which burn longer. Be sure to avoid white oak as this is the log that burns too slow and doesn't give off that engaging glow.

By the way, a big mistake you can make for firewood storage is covering it with a tarp, which only prohibits evaporation. Use a wood shed or pre-fab wood crib. And finally remember to buy wood this year for next year so that it has ample time to dry.

II. Kindling
There are a number of ways to start a fire, none more familiar than rolled newspaper stuffed between the logs. However, as we become more environmentally aware, our parents’ idea of building a fire may not have been the best one.

In addition to Pine kindling other great alternatives or additions are bundles of bark, twigs, nutshells, even corncobs. Duraflame now features some great all-natural firestarters as well that have a smaller carbon footprint than some woods!

III. Ignition!
By now your fire should be set to light. Before you light your fire make sure that the fireplace flue/damper is open, otherwise you could find yourself in a real mess. All logs need to be pushed back as far as possible to the rear of the andirons. Andirons are the best log holder fire as new grates and iron holders allow the wood to roll about too much. Place your kindling/firestarter underneath the andirons. It’s important that the wood be elevated to properly circulate air to burn a better fire. Other experts advocate placing the wood directly on the bricks as far back in the fireplace as possible.

Lay a crumpled piece of newspaper on top of the logs.
Using long matches or firestarter lighters ignite the top piece of paper first followed by the kindling. The burning newspaper will help create a draft to draw smoke up the chimney. Be sure to have your fire screen handy so that you can place in front of your fireplace right away. Then sit back and bask in the comforting glow of your fire. If the beauty of your fire isn’t enough, try adding dried sage or dried orange peels for a pleasant aroma.

Happy Holidays from the Maison Nouveau family!