Hi Buyers...... Feeling very thoughtful of late, more than usual. Perhaps it's because I am closing three escrows this week with three couples at very different stages in their lives. One couple has hit the big six-o and wanted their privacy back badly. Boomers they are and they have felt very shut out of the market for a long time. Now they have plans and they are so happy. Vegetable garden tops the list. Pets. Rescue of course. Tinkering in the garage for the very handy and creative man. A room for massage and acupuncture for the amazingly enlightened woman. A place to store their bikes. They looked at easily 100 homes.
Read all of A Hot Friday in August
It started with another flaky room-mate moving out. As she began the search again for a cool group of like-minded individuals it occured to her that maybe, with rates as low a anyone under 80 can remember, that perhaps she should buy. She called me. I set the stage for her pre-approval, her criteria for searching, a referral to an agent in her city. Within a week she had found the home of her dreams! New construction. Most important feature? A private deck. When you live in San Francisco this is to die for.
Read all of My Step Daughter is Buying a Condo
President Obama this week offered some details on his proposed program aimed at getting homeowners to make energy-efficiency improvements to their houses. The Homestar program would increase demand for energy-efficient home products and installation services as well as help homeowners save between $200 and $500 a year in energy costs, according to a news release from the White House. Below are a few of the details of the proposal:
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Get the most bang for your buck with green home improvement By Collin Dunn Corvallis, OR, USA | Wed Oct 28, 2009 07:23 AM ET Martin Poole / Getty Images READ MORE ABOUT: Architectural Salvage | Cooling | Eco-Friendly Bathrooms | Eco-Friendly Kitchens | Energy | Green Home | Green Home Renovation | Heating | Home Energy Use | Indoor Air Quality | Money | Non-Toxic Paint | Water Conservation | Windows When you own a house, there may seem like a never-ending list of things you want to improve, whether cosmetic -- like finally replacing peeling wallpaper or adding a splash of color with new paint -- or more functional, as with more insulation in the attic, or a more efficient heating system. But in a down housing market, in an economy that's made money a bit tighter for a lot of us, which green improvements will really add value to your home? The good news is that a lot of green improvements are designed to either improve the energy efficiency -- as with insulation -- or environmental health -- think wallcoverings -- of your home, and those types of things add value. Still, there are a few home improvements that get oversold as value-boosters that can actually reduce the long-term value in your home; windows are a prime example of that. With that in mind, here are five ways you can add value to your home when making green improvements. Upgrade in the Kitchen The kitchen is traditionally one of the best spots for a good return on investment in your home, and that's true with green home improvements, too. You don't have to do a huge renovation to add value, either; a new green countertop or an upgrade to your kitchen floor will usually net you between a 90 and 100 percent return on your investment. Not only will kitchen updates add value, but they can help improve the indoor air quality in your home, too -- check out our Green Materials Guide for Kitchens to get more info. Update the Bathroom In addition to the kitchen, the bathroom is one room where you're almost always assured of a good return on your home improvement investment. Like the kitchen, a complete overhaul often isn't necessary; you can add value just by regrouting existing tile or adding a new coat of paint, since aesthetics in the bathroom are so important to the value of your home. Ready to take the next step? Upgrading fixtures to maximize water conservation in your bathroom can adds lots of value, since it's the room where most of your home's water goes down the drain. Get more bathroom improvement tips from our Green Materials Guide for Bathrooms. Photo credit: Thomas Northcut / Getty Images Add Insulation It may not be quite as sexy as kitchen or bathroom upgrades, but you can almost never have too much insulation, and adding more can help you realize a return on your investment of over 100 percent. Research conducted in the U.K. earlier this year found that "fuel efficiency and energy saving measures are the top performing home improvement," returning up to 250 percent on initial investment, and having proper insulation goes a long way to maximizing the energy efficiency of your home. While it can be a little tricky to add insulation to existing walls, beefing up the R-values in your attic or crawlspace will help cut your energy costs, which will pump up your home's value; check in with the Green Materials Guide for Insulation to see which insulation makes the most sense for you. Improve the Efficiency of Your Heating and Cooling Heating and cooling goes along with insulation (and windows -- more on that below) to help save you energy at home, which has the dual benefit of saving you money now, and adding value for your home, which is beneficial if you want to sell it later. Every home is different, so there isn't one system that adds value to every house; while geothermal heat pumps are the right choice for some, solar heating might be better elsewhere, for example. And, if a whole new system isn't in the cards right now, be sure you've done the basics to insure your current setup is operating at its peak efficiency. Lower utility bills will never detract from the value of your home; learn more from our >Green Materials Guide for Heating and Cooling. Look (Carefully!) at Your Windows Old windows can be leaky, poorly insulated sieves that let too much air in (and out), helping undo any efficiency improvements you make elsewhere, but that doesn't mean they should be automatically replaced. If they're the original wood frame windows on your 100 year-old home, replacing them can actually reduce the value of your home -- it's sort of like refinishing a valuable old antique in that it might look shinier, but won't be as valuable. So take a close look at your windows, but remember that you should fix before you replace in almost every case. Adding storm windows to aging single pane windows will give you improved insulation values without detracting from the historical value of your home; learn more from the Green Materials Guide for Windows.
Read all of Where to put your money.....
The end of the year brought the greatest highs and lows for me and my buyers involved in the short sale saga.
Read all of Closing the book on the short sale drama
Well there I was (check previous posts) lamenting the short sale process or lack of same. Months in pergatory, not knowing which way the bank will decide your fate and the fate of your earnest clients. Everyone involved BUT the bank in it for the right reasons. So that's one deal. My other active escrow is a Townhouse. It sold in multiple offers, $15,000 over asking. Though the project was not FHA approved the lender for the most qualified buyer said that his was an FHA Certified Operation and with the documentation all in had from this well run HOA there would be no problem.
Will we make it into escrow? At this rate I'm not sure. The Listing Agent has informed me that the negotiator assigned to this file has been fired and the file has been closed.
Read all of The continuing saga
I spent the the better part of the last 2 weeks preparing, with my clients, a 57 page short sale offer! Overkill you say? Not at all. We looked at 18 homes that fit their search criteria. Only one was a short sale. Guess which one they liked? I had educated them on the process from the first day we'd met though they, like most Buyers today, had done a terrific amount of homework. The first challenge was just getting inside. The home is tenant occupied. Multi-tenant occupied! Dis-sheveled, dirty, overgrown and sad. The home, not the tenants. We finally gained entry and found sleeping bodies in every room.
Read all of Short Sale Experiences - from the trenches....
I'm still a pushover for the printed word. I love the newspaper. I think it's wonderful to get your fingers dirty while drinking coffee and ingesting information. I call THAT the 'Breakfast of Champions'! I know I'm being a little silly, but the truth is I trust a word on a page perhaps because someone sat and thought about a subject and was willing to commit that subject to a scrutiny that was more lasting than a disposable sound-bite. Sure you can just read the headlines but I think you're more likely to read the article. To take a moment, breath and travel through the subject from beginning to end. It's satisfying. Like a meal instead of fast food.
Read all of Do you believe everything you read?
I am fascinated by the differences in the current buying population. What makes one buyer fearless in stepping forward, bad news be damned, and write an offer? What makes another unsure of what to do? Enthralled with low-balling, not responding to counter offers? My instinct tells me it's all about information, my favorite platform for all things good! But I'm not really sure that's the case. I think all of us are afraid we are going to miss something great. Like a great sale on July 4th with coupons everywhere for an extra 30% off of prices alreay slashed! Unfortunately you already purchased the item advertised when it was "on sale" last month and all sales are final! No price adjustments.
Read all of What Makes You Tick?
