Little things such as installation of efficient light bulbs, computer shutdown, new windows and insulation can help to achieve monthly saving of significant amount of money.

The first thing you must do if you want to reduce energy consumption, and therefore save money, is that all appliances should be completely off when not in operation. This is especially true for computers and monitors, chargers for mobile phones and cameras.

The second step is to purchase efficient light bulbs. They spend five times less energy and lasts 8 times longer than ordinary light bulbs. Of course, shut down the lights when not in the room. You will feel this on your annual cost.

Every appliance in the apartment should be an energy class A or A +. These devices consume up to 45% less energy than energy grade D. This means that on every appliance you can save 100 to 200 kuna annually, so now calculate depending on the number of devices you have in the apartment.

We arrive to the heating and cooling. Do not exaggerate with air conditioning because it is not good for health, but note that the cooling of only one degree spends 3-5% of the total energy. When buying make sure that the climate device is of the class A and consider buying a device with inverter because it achieves savings of 20 to 40%. When we talk about heating obtain thermostats for radiators. This way you can save up to 20% and if you decrease the temperature for only 1 degree you can save about 5% of energy.

A little bit more expensive investment is to change the windows. Windows you want have double or triple glazing. It would be good that windows also have Low-e coating on the inner side, as well as a quality framework that does not lose heat. These windows are 20% more expensive, but they have 50% lower heat losses.

The next more expensive step is good insulation, especially in private homes without the facade of old flats. With good insulation and windows you can cut your energy costs in half. Listen to the architects and engineers when they give you advice for insulation.

If you want to go all the way then install solar panels. With them you can completely remove the cost of heating water in the summer and reduce energy consumption 30-60% during the winter.

What will be necessary to make the Croatian real estate market finally free of this crisis? It appears that all the efforts of local banks and the state have so far not led to a significant shift for the better and to make matters worse there has been no significant fall in prices. In such circumstances it is difficult to sell a property, as evidenced by the increasing number of cancellation of agencies and many agency employees losing their job.
It seems that the only effective solution is increased investment on the market. The Croatian market can not independently initiate a significant investment cycle because there are not enough investors and it is also a small market compared to others. What we are waiting for in this situation is the stronger growth of the largest European markets, which should lead to a new investment cycle in Croatia.
Continuation of negotiations for accession to EU will send a message to investors about stabilization and potential benefits of investment in Croatia. The fact that Croatia is closer to entry into the Union combined with a defined strategy and investment incentives could create a new interest among investors and encourage foreign investment.
What is now hindering new investments across Europe are low rates of return, so investments of most countries are lower as much as 60% compared to the first half of last year. However, as 2009 is getting closer to the end increased investments are expected in most countries, and it is also expected that the next few years will bring more stability regarding the rate of return. Currently the banks are also not helping a lot with their limited offer of loans, and if they even give credits then they do it by much more stringent conditions. All this has a bad effect on the real estate market and it is a part of the reason for current slow pace of recovery.
Fortunately, good news are coming from the United States of America, Canada and Asia, so next year we expect more investors from these countries, especially from China, whose investors could start up the sleepy commercial real estate market.

It is difficult to determine which is the right time to move into such a serious investment like buying a new apartment or house. There are lots of obstacles and it is important to pay attention to some of the most common mistakes.

Do not think too much about the situation on the market. It is useless to wait for the market to touch the bottom because then you will never make a decision. Real estate market in Croatia is at the moment, unfortunately, faced with this problem. When choosing to buy you should always have the market situation in mind, but above all consider whether you are able to financially sustain a purchase. Too much thinking can sometimes take you in the wrong direction.

You always leave yourself room for financial maneuvering. In addition to costs such as loan and arranging, some unexpected expenses can always come up, so be smart enough to take such problems into account in advance and create a fund to handle these kinds of crises.

When you buy property in Croatia you should always have a qualified lawyer and an agent from a professional Croatian real estate agency. Despite the fact that they will check all the legal details and put together a favorable contract, always be sure to check all items of the contract yourself in the end.

Thoroughly check the property you intend to buy! Every day we read in newspapers about the various stories related to the problems after the purchase. Today you simply can not be sure whether the property you are buying is all right, even if it is a completely new building. Take some experts who understand construction with you to review and the real estate objectively assess the situation. Do not take risks and buy at the first sight only because you have fallen in love with your new house or apartment after the first inspection. This is a one way street towards the purchase of a bad property or failure to catch better opportunities. In addition to checking the property, check the neighborhood too. It makes no sense to live in hell with noisy and problematic neighbors.

Finally, always bear in mind that your finances are not limitless and have a cost plan before you purchase. You may think you can afford a loan for a house or apartment of your dreams regardless of the loan amount, but is there any sense to go into too much debt and later barely survive the month. Be humble and rational, do not you let your life in a new home lead you into a financial collapse.

Everything must end where it is started and the crisis will also probably end in America, most probably on the real estate market, which is where the breakdown began and triggered the avalanche of problems that we encountered during the last year or two. This is why every good data from the United States makes us all especially happy.
For starters, the number of houses that went to construction in August grew by 1.5 percent to almost 600 thousand, 598 thousand more accurately, which is the largest increase in the nine months of 2009. Also, work has begun on 25 percent more family housing units and soon government incentives to build first houses will start too. This all had a positive impact on the labor market, which is slowly showing signs of recovery as the number of applicants at the Department of Employment fell by 12 thousand.
Besides all mentioned above, the fact that the U.S. central bank, the Federal Reserve, has plans to insert further 1.25 billion U.S. dollars to the mortgage market echoed all over the place. The goal is to revive the stumbled U.S. economy through the recovery of the financial system and reduce the various requests for FED’s assistance from banks. Several support programs were also approved aimed at combating the credit crisis that started two years ago, in August 2007. Since the start of 2009, FED invested almost $ 700 billion in mortgage insurance, and by April 2010 there are plans to spend another 556 billion in order to maintain low interest rates.
It seems that the crisis in the banking system of the United States finally ended and now is the time for programs that will strengthen the economy again. Besides the obvious reasons why this is good news for the citizens of the United States, it is also very good news for the rest of the world because it signals the recovery of financial and real estate markets in other countries that were hardest hit by recession, especially in Europe. Such developments should also positively affect the recovery of the economy in Croatia, while the increase in purchasing power could return foreign customers to the Croatian property market.