- The fully blown chicken barn. This one is for the really serious people. If you want to keep a large number of birds, have a homemade egg collector, and have a big chicken run attached, this one is for you. You'll also score some big discounts from your local lumber yard because you'll be buying timber in bulk.

2. Go through books and magazines filled with glossy photographs of houses. This will further help you get a feel for what you find appealing. Looking and real, built homes is much more helpful than relying on vague ideas in your head.

Once you close and get started, make sure you stick to your plan. You should have at least thirty minutes to an hour per day dedicated to managing building your house. We've seen single mothers with full time jobs build their own home, but make sure you can dedicate time to make sure your project is a success.

- The chicken ark. This design has recently become extremely popular. It's small enough to be portable, and not to take up too much room. However, it's still quite large, as it utilizes multiple storeys to house your flock. There is also a separate nesting area.

Cost of Solar Hot Water System: $5,000

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Even better, a lot of federal mortgage places are required to offer financing for people looking to improving their home with solar power systems. Even better than that? Most of the loans come with low interest rates, usually way below the current mortgage interest rates for everyone else not investing in solar energy.

You can easily make your own solar cell in under an hour using common stuff like copper, your electric stove and an electric current meter. Find it hard to believe? Solar technology isn't really very complex, which is why you'll find more and more people building their own solar units. You can find all the information you need online and be set up in no time.

Many home sellers use the internet for their sole means of advertising. This is not a smart move, as a large percentage of home buyers will check print media publications before even switching on their computers. Make sure to take out quality advertising space in local, as well as national papers. Going for 3 or 4 popular magazines and papers should be enough to generate some good interest.

Luckily there are many other options that cost way less.

- The small a-frame chicken coop. This one is portable, and great if you want to keep just a few chickens for egg production. Sure, you'll probably have to get your hands a bit dirty when collecting eggs, but it's by far the easiest, quickest type of chicken coop to build.

By now I'm sure we've all heard about the latest solar energy buzz. With bills piling up and jobs thinning out it's no wonder everyone is making the switch to solar energy. I know the Indiana taxpayers have footed the bill for millions of dollars worth of solar energy cells to eternally power, for one thing, all the recent driver surveillance cameras around the state that are responsible for mailing you a ticket and a picture of your face to let you know that you just got a traffic violation ticket and fine. But using solar energy to power intrusive government devices and using solar energy to power your house are worlds apart, and the question on everyone's minds is, "Is solar energy all it's cracked up to be, and how practical is it to consider using solar energy to power my home?"