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9/4/2009 GREEN LINKS

Here's some great links to learn more about going Green:

 

Energy Star

www.energystar.gov

 

Texas-State Energy Conservation Office

www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us

 

Green Environmental

 www.envirolink.org

 

Household

 www.gDiapers.com   flushable insert, plastic free, chlorine free

 

For Kids  

www.planetpals.com

 

Guide to Green Living and Tips/Products

www.greenyour.com

 

For Pets

www.ecoanimal.com

 

Great Site for Multiple Products

 www.ecochoices.com

 www.realgreengoods.com

 www.biobagusa.com

 

Consumer Reports Greener Choices

www.greenerchoices.org/

6/3/2009 HVCC - Home Appraisal Policy

Pricing your new home properly is now more important than ever. Imagine you get the price you want for your home, make it through the inspections and contingencies, just to find out that the home will not appraise for the sale price and the buyers loan cannot close!

On May 1, 2009 a new appraisal policy called Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) went into effect. The HVCC was the result of a lawsuit filed by New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo against Washington Mutual and was designed to improve the integrity of home appraisals.

The new policy mandates that mortgage brokers must now order appraisals through Appraisal Management Companies (AMC), middlemen essentially, who in turn order the independent appraisals. The appraisal fee, which in the past would have gone wholly to the appraiser, now gets split between the AMC and the appraiser, which could increase the cost of Residential Home Appraisals. If a mortgage broker changes lenders for a buyer to get better rates or find a loan program more suitable for the situation, a completely new appraisal will need to be ordered.

A large concern is that the AMCs may hire the lowest fee appraisers who don't know the particular neighborhood where the house is located, including situations where MLS does not contain sales data for valid comps. This could put good local appraisers, who know their market best, out of business and affect the outcome and accuracy of the appraisal. Additionally, AMCs are not regulated by any state agency at this time and their employees are not required to be licensed.

This new policy was intended to stem mortgage fraud but it has the potential to increase closing costs, closing time, and possibly lower home values.

5/7/2009 Going Green In Real Estate

Eco friendly homes are becoming more and more important in Real Estate.

Did You Know?

In 2007, Texas led the nation, building more than 40,000 ENERGY STAR homes more than the next six leading states combined.

Green Built Texas homes are designed to be at least 17 percent more energy-efficient than a home built to code. Contact your builder for specific features included in your home.

Your home can produce more pollution than your car-16% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions are generated from energy used in homes.

According to the National Association of Home Builders, green building is poised to grow to a $38 billion industry by 2010.

Federal tax credits are available for many types of home improvements including adding insulation, replacement windows, and certain high efficiency heating and cooling equipment. Visit, www.energystar.gov for more information.

The average household will spend almost $2,100 on home energy costs in 2007.

According to ENERGY STAR, a programmable thermostat could save up to $150 per year on utility bills.

If every U.S. household replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent (CFL) bulb, it would save enough energy to light about 3 million homes for a year and save more than $650 million in annual energy costs.

Replacing four 75-watt incandescent bulbs with 23-watt compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs can save you more than 2000 kWh and $190 over the life of the bulbs.

Running a faucet for five minutes uses as much energy as burning a 60-watt bulb for 14 hours.

A hot water faucet leaking one drop per second can add up to 165 gallons a month-more than one person uses in two weeks.

Dishwashers use six gallons less water than dishes washed by hand, that adds up to more than 2,000 gallons per year.

Opening refrigerator doors allows 3% of the cold air to escape.

In Texas as much as 60% of the homes total water use is devoted to outdoor irrigation. Coupled with drought-tolerant landscaping, rainwater harvesting can supply most, if not all, of the water needed for outdoor irrigation.

A showerhead that uses less than 2.5 gallons of water per minute or less can save a family of four as much as 3,000 gallons of water each month. The annual savings in energy and water costs could exceed $300.

Properly shading windows to reduce solar heat gain can save more than $150 in home energy costs annually.

Reducing air leakage in ducts by using mastic can save as much as $200 in annual home energy costs.
4/28/2009 Moving Up in a Down Market

We have all seen the news and heard all the bleak reports, but the local market is not as bad as what is reported. The fact is, if you have considered moving up, there is not a better time.

Here are three things to consider:

Percent of Net Loss/Gain
Lets say for arguments sake, that if you were to sell your home in todays market, you would take a 5% loss over what you desire to receive. Since we are all playing on a level playing field, we would also have to assume that the seller of your move-up home would also take a 5% loss. Base on your existing home value of $150,000 less 5% we are looking at a $7,500 discount for todays market. On the surface, that is not a loss you would want to take, but if the prospective homes value is $300,000, the net loss to the seller would be $15,000, yielding a $7,500 net gain to you. The converse is also true. If the market is up, you may gain $7,500 on the sale of your home, but lose $7,500 on the transition.

Good Selection
The primary reason we see sales prices of homes being less at this time is the old supply vs. demand. What this means to the buyer is that there is plenty of inventory in all price ranges to choose from. Through my experience, there is really no such thing as the perfect home, but you can get a lot closer to what you desire than you would be able to in a Sellers Market. In times past, you may have been reluctant to sell before you had located you next home. In todays market that simply is not necessary with the larger inventory.

Not sure if you can sell your current home? The reality is first time homebuyers are flooding the market to take advantage of the great tax incentives available. If your current home fits in a first time homebuyer niche (generally less than $200,000), then you are in a great position with a large pool of buyers in the market.

Interest Rates
The interest rates continue to hold in a very favorable area for the borrower, which are still at all time lows. When the market gets stronger, we could see a rise which would also cost you money every month. Again, the news reports how bad the mortgage industry is, and yes they do have issues, but they are still lending money to those who have good credit. What got them into trouble was lending money that should have never been lent. By the way, FHA loan limits have been raised to over $270,000 and dropped a lot of the restrictions that previously made them a little less desirable, meaning you can get in a new home for as little as 3.5% down.

Consider this: The savings on a $300,000 loan with a 30 year mortgage at 5% vs. 6% is about $200 a month, and about $70,000 over the life of the loan!

Timing is everything, and if you are considering making a move, this truly is a great time to do it.

Dont delay, the time is right!
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6200 W. Eldorado Pkwy. Ste 200
McKinney, TX | (972) 529-5555