You’d be surprised how often a mortgage application is delayed by incomplete documentation. To prepare you for a speedy mortgage process, Costco Mortgage Services (yes Costco has mortgages!!!!) has supplied the following checklist of typically required documents.
Get the list at: http://www.costcoconnection.com/connection/201201#pg121
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What is a home service contract?
The typical home service contract is a one-year contract that protects a homebuyer or current homeowner against the cost of unexpected repairs or replacement of major systems and appliances that breakdown due to normal usage or defects in materials or workmanship. A home service contract can:
Who sells home service contracts?
Realtors, builders and independent providers sell home service contracts. A home service contract can be purchased at any time, including at the time of purchase, and is usually transferable to a new owner, although a small transfer fee may apply.
What is the difference between a home service contract and homeowner’s insurance?
Read more at: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/guidelines-for-purchasing-a-home-warranty-143978026.html
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Posted in Real Estate
Tagged home service contract, home warranty, homeowners insurance
So what should you do if you are considering replacing your contractor grade windows with new energy efficient ones? Here are the five things to consider to insure you are getting the best results.
ENERGY AUDIT: Have a legitimate energy audit done by a third party independent auditor. These companies do not sell or recommend specific products. But get them talking enough and they will probably tell you who to stay away from.
ENERGY TAX CREDITS: Find out what energy tax credits are available. These incentives can be federal, state, or utilities. Warning – some energy tax credits will not be available after December.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY: Research the energy efficiency of the various materials that are used in making the windows as well as the brands of the replacement windows. Generally wood or vinyl are the first choices and although some will tell you triple pane windows are the best, they are not really needed in the West, especially when you are calculating the payback.
PAYBACK: How long will it be before the savings you realize on your utility bills pay for the replacement windows. Don’t be awestruck by statements like; “we’ll save you 40% on your energy bill.” Even if that could be achieved, sit down and calculate how much that would actually be. Then find a replacement window that makes sense for your budget.
CONTRACTOR REPUTATION: This is where a lot of promised energy savings is lost. If the windows are not installed properly, most of the energy savings will not be realized. Talk to other customers who have had their windows replaced and see if they have seen a savings. Research the replacement window companies on the internet. And research both the window manufacturer and the installation company if they are not the same.
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At this year’s Better Living Show, Hearth and Home Technologies is unveiling its latest innovation in gas fireplace technology. The Energy Pro Direct Vent gas fireplace will be the most efficient gas fireplace available on the market. It has tested at 93% efficiency. It is also the first ever fireplace to be certified as a central furnace. That means that homeowners can tie this directly into their current HVAC system to pump heat into multiple areas of the home.
That’s right—this gas fireplace can heat your entire home. I told you it was cool! This product promises all the good things about a fireplace in one package—beauty, ambience, and heat—along with unmatched air quality and safety.
Read more at: http://betterlivingshow.org/blog.Energy-Pro-Direct-Vent-gas-fireplace.htm
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Posted in energy retrofitting
Tagged central furnance, central heating, fireplace, gas fireplace
NW Natural’s Blue Home, a highlight of the show, is an 1,100-square-foot installation demonstrating the newest and most sustainable ways to use natural gas and save money. The home, with a natural gas car parked in the garage, has a refueling station and inspirational gardens. The home will also show off new technologies, including the Nest Learning Thermostat and a highly efficient gas fireplace.
Read more: http://betterlivingshow.org/NW-Natural-The-Blue-Home.htm
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Based on an open floor plan, the kitchen looks out to both the family room and the dining area, which opens to the outdoors. The design allows Bromfield — who loves to cook and says an hourlong prep is a quick one for her — to brew up dinners while Jake and Orpin can be engaged and nearby, or just playing with their rescued Brittany spaniel, Dexter.
THE SPECS: 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 3,000 square feet, $320 per square foot, $960,000 total
THE MECHANICS:
Twenty solar panels provide 80 percent of the house’s annual electrical needs. Federal grants and tax credits softened the initial cost of $32,000 to $9,000.
A natural gas boiler delivers hot water to the main floor’s radiator system. The wall-mounted European-style flat-plate radiators allow the family to control the temperature in each room. Orpin — not a fan of forced air — says the system is less expensive than radiant heat, which he also does not love. The system goes on at 5 a.m. and off by 8 a.m. If the house cools too much in the evening, they light a wood stove in the family room. The stove, with a closed-combustion firebox, does not pull any air from the interior of the house.
Domestic hot water is heated by two additional solar panels. If needed, an exchange system with the main boiler kicks in. After tax incentives and credits from Ecotrust, this price tag dipped from $8,100 to $3,800.
Rainwater collection barrels are in the basement. Not burying them allowed Orpin and Bromfield to go with four less expensive 1,000-gallon food-grade tanks. The system filters water four times and can collect up to 6,000 gallons during the rainy months. They switch to city water in the summer if they run low. Cost was around $6,000 and Orpin predicts a 15-year break-even point.
See and read more at: http://www.oregonlive.com/hg/index.ssf/2012/03/well-organized_home_design_kee.html
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Posted in Property spotlight
There are homes that are smart because they’re programmed to perform the tasks that we tell them to do, such as adjusting the heat, turning off the lights, closing the drapes. Then there’s the kind of smart house that figures out what needs to be done without being told because it “knows” you.
It’s a concept that’s simultaneously wonderful and scary — we’re talking about our homes reasoning that a departure from our daily habits may be cause for alarm.
Are you ready for your house to be worried about you? You might be if you were of a rather advanced age and determined to live on your own.
About 40 seniors, average age 85, have for the last year lived alone in apartments filled with 30 to 40 motion, temperature and other sensors that gather data on such things as when they get up in the morning, when they eat, when they shower, make phone calls or have friends over. In other words, silent sentinels are tracking their every move and trying to learn what’s normal for them, in order to be able to figure out if they’re behaving in a way that merits concern — illness, a fall, failure to take urgently needed medicine. The home might intuit that they’re not getting much face time from others and could be in need of a visit. Or that their cognitive skills may be slipping.
Read more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/home/sc-cons-0426-umberger-smart-home-20120427,0,1310375.story
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Building, renovating and decorating our homes involves making thousands of choices, and trying to choose healthy furnishings and décor can make the process even more complicated. Unfortunately, many home décor products are mass-produced with chemical-laden synthetic materials and little to no regard for the health threats they can pose. While in most cases safer alternatives exist, they can often be more expensive or more difficult to find, and even most furnishings designed with health and sustainability in mind are imperfect. But any shade of green—especially when it comes to indoor air quality and your health—is better than brown. Be informed. Start small. And make the best choices whenever you can.
Does reduced indoor air pollution add value to your home? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.
Energy Improvement Mortgage (EIM)
An EIM allows borrowers to fold the cost of energy-efficiency improvements into the mortgage—without increasing the down payment. Borrowers can use the money they will save in utility bills to finance energy improvements.
Both EEMs and EIMs typically require a home energy rating to provide the lender with the estimated energy savings and the value of the energy-efficiency improvements—known as the Energy Savings Value. EEMs and EIMs are sponsored by federally insured mortgage programs such as the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Veterans Affairs (VA), as well as the conventional secondary mortgage market (Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac).
