U r b a n T r e k k e r

Attic Insulation

You just moved in to your new house. Check around the house, look at your attic to see if you have enough insulation. Adding attic insulation can help save money on your heating and cooling bills. This image below from Energy Star explains why attic is the hottest part of the house in the summer. On the other hand in the winter, without adequate insulation, the attic can cause heat loss and overwork the heating system.

image: Energy Star

A couple of things you gotta do before adding insulation to your attic, via Energy Savers:

• Find out how much insulation you already have in your home and where. A qualified home energy auditor will include an insulation check as a routine part of a whole-house energy audit. (diy home energy audit here)
• If you don't want audit, then you need to find out the following:
• • where your home is, isn't, and/or should be insulated
  • what type of insulation you have
  • the R-value and thickness or depth (inches) of the insulation you have.

What is R-value?

R-value indicates an insulation's resistance to heat flow. The higher the R-value the greater insulating effect. 

R-value can be a whole new discussion in another post. The R-value depends on where you want to insulate and the area you live in.

 

image: Lowes

Energy tip from Energy Star: 'Sealing and insulation are often the most cost-effective ways to make a home more comfortable and energy-efficient.'

And here's the the gift for you from the Feds: the Federal Tax Credit for Energy Efficiency that gives consumers tax credit (for all things) to make a house more energy-efficient. Among others, is a credit of up to 30% of cost or $1,500 for insulation for 2009 and 2010. 

If you want to know more about it, check this video below (with commercial twist) but- at least you learn about it or watch this one on How to Insulate Attic.

By the way, saving money on energy, can also be a 'selling' feature for sellers..

Read also:

Energy Star DIY guide attic insulation

Recommended levels of insulation table

Fact sheet on insulation

2009 Virginia New Green Laws

Legislation passed by the General Assembly in 2009 in Virginia becomes law effective July 1, 2009. The same thing with the no text message bill while driving law that will become law come 7/1.

These are the new "green" laws for 2009, that includes land development, environment and taxation:

Preservation of Historical sites (SB 1416) - allows the local governments to establish areas of known historical or archaeological significance and to require development applicants to document how they will preserve such resources.

Land Preservation Credit (HB 1891/SB 986) - reduced from $100,000 to $50,000 the amount of the land preservation credit for tax years 2009 and 2010. Affected taxpayers may claim the credit for two additional years. 

Open-Space Easements (SB 907) - authorizes estate trustees to donate open-space easements to obtain estate tax exclusions.

Green Roofs (HB 1828, HB 1975/SB 1058) - allows localities to offer incentives for green roof construction.

Certification of Buildings (SB 1004) - allows architect to certify energy-efficient buildings for local taxation purposes.

Geothermal Heating (SB 1128) - requires the Board of Health to allow the construction of wells used solely for closed loop geothermal heating systems.

Clean Energy Financing (SB 1212) - allows localities to provide loans for initial acquisition and installation of clean energy improvements.

Stormwater (SB 982) - requires localities to provide full or partial waivers of charges to any person who redevelops or retrofits property to permanently reduce stormwater flow and pollutant loading. 

[via Update]

There you have it..

For more in-depth coverage of these bills, check out Virginia Legislative Information System. And to learn more about other Virginia green initiatives, go here.

Weekly Roundup

Mortgage Insurers to the Rescue?

Homeowners in trouble may find help from an unlikely source: their private mortgage insurance company. Typically, homeowners turn to nonprofit housing counseling services or even paid "mortgage fixers" (not a good idea) to help them renegotiate better, more affordable terms on their mortgage. But the credit crunch and the large numbers of folks in need of financial help have caused those avenues to clog up.

The Anytime Homebuyer Tax Credit

A new bill introduced in the House Thursday, HR  2801 or Home Ownership Moves the Economy (HOME) Act of 2009, aims to make the current $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credit available to literally anyone that purchases a primary residence through the end of 2010.

Upwardly Mobile Homes

When it comes to real estate, the trailer park gets a bad rap. But some designers think that this forsaken corner of the market is worthy of reevaluation—and even resuscitation.

Bank Repossessions Surge, More Foreclosures Hit Market

Expect more foreclosed properties to hit the market. The number of U.S. properties for which a foreclosure filing was received rose 18% in May from a year earlier, according to numbers released by RealtyTrac on Wednesday, as bank repossessions surged in several states outside the Sun Belt, which has so far borne the brunt of foreclosures.

Jon and Kate Plus Eight's Real Estate Stress

As if Jon and Kate Gosselin didn’t have enough to worry about already (rumors of marital infidelity, aggressive paparazzi, national media scrutiny, and, oh, eight kids) they can now tack on an extra stressor: the sluggish real estate market.

10 ways to turnoff a homebuyer

What a difference a couple of years makes. Back in 2007, homebuyers would beg to purchase your house. They would even bid more than the asking price for the privilege to do so.

Q&A: How can I estimate how much roofing we need?

We're planning to replace our roof later this summer and want to get some ballpark estimates from a number of pros. How can I estimate how much roofing we'll need? Knowing how much roofing material you'll need will make it easier to compare bids from contractors.

Wright for Real People: A Family Restores Frank Lloyd Wright's Famed First House

Restoring an architectural treasure is a formidable task, and Steve Sikora and Lynette Erickson-Sikora knew the challenges they would face when they bought Frank Lloyd Wright’s dilapidated 1934 Malcolm Willey House in Minneapolis in 2002.

LOCAL NEWS FROM AROUND WASHINGTON DC REGION

• National Harbor to cyclists, pedestrians: Drop dead [Greater Greater Washington]
• Secretary paints dire transportation picture [Fairfax Times]
• Virginia gets $17.5 M to rehabilitate foreclosed homes [Virginia Business]
• Hill residents hear Hine proposal [Wash Biz Journal]
• Foreclosures soar in Maryland suburbs [DC Examiner]
• Spotsy VRE service would take years [Fredericksburg.com]
• Metro receives first $17 million in stimulus money [WTOP]
• First LEED Platinum House [DC Metrocentric]
• Room and Board Finally Buys the 14th and T Building [DCist]

Indoor Air Quality

We got into this discussion of indoor air quality (IAQ) last night at my relative's house. This particular relative of mine has not opened the windows of her house - for ages.  This is so true. I would say more than 10 years! She may have opened the windows once in a blue moon. But that's about it. So, I am on a mission today to write something about IAQ.

What she didn't realize (until last night) is that poor ventilation can put her at immediate or long term health risks. The Surgeon General states that "Poor indoor air quality contributes to cancer, cardiovascular disease, asthma, and other illnesses." According to EPA, one of the three ways to improve IAQ is through improved ventilation.

Inadequate ventilation can increase indoor pollutant levels by not bringing in enough outdoor air to dilute emissions from indoor sources and by not carrying indoor air pollutants out of the home. High temperature and humidity levels can also increase concentrations of some pollutants.

The other two ways to improve the quality of indoor air is 1) to eliminate the single source of pollution or to reduce their emission, and 2) using air cleaners.

The Office of Surgeon General has issued "Call to Action to Promote Healthy Homes" on Tuesday which outline simple steps, for example, to check gas and appliances, fireplaces, chimneys, and furnaces yearly and change furnace and air conditioning filters regularly. 

Here are some resources you can check into on creating healthy homes:

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Environmental Protection Agency
• HUD Office of Healthy Homes
• American Lung Association

Or, the easiest way is to take this quick indoor air quality tour, courtesy of EPA, where you can go room-by-oom to learn the key pollutants and how to take care of them. (just click on the image below for the tour )

By the way, this is not going to be the last time (previous posts here and here)  I'm writing about this topic, because interestingly EPA cited the fact that  "five out of 10 Americans are not aware of this fact."

Weekly Real Estate News Roundup

The iHouse, story on Jetson Green

Home Works: Preserve Your Paint
Before electric lighting and clean heat sources, home interiors built up a layer of soot during cold-weather confinement. Back then, washing the walls was a mainstay of spring cleaning.

On a Rock in a Hard Place
On a cold, drizzly, late November morning in downtown Seattle, prefab buildings are not the first thing on most people’s minds—a roaring fire in a cozy cabin is more like it. But for Peter and Mark Anderson, of Anderson Anderson Architecture, the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Prefab, with its ambitious ideal as an everyman’s architecture, holds the promise of making that cozy cabin dream both accessible and affordable.

Easy Home Makeovers
You've stared at the bare spot above the couch for one too many years. Until you find art you can commit to―or in place of it―try a quick, inexpensive, attractive, and changeable-with-your-mood alternative: a framed piece of fabric.

5 home repairs you shouldn't ignore
You might be tempted to put off fixing your home until the economy rebounds. Rebuild the patio? Sure, right after your 401(k) rallies. But some problems, if left unchecked, can lead to thousands of dollars in repairs (rebuilding a foundation wall, for instance) and might even compromise your family's health, such as mold contamination.

RESIDENCE: Passive Solar "Cascade House"
Having moved from Arizona to Toronto, the owners of this modern home looked to Toronto-based architectsPaul Raff Studio to create a passive solar design that would maximize daylighting for a bright interior reminiscent of their previous sunny abode.

First-time buyers benefit from housing slump
Kostas Kalaitzidis wanted to buy a home when he moved to Phoenix in 2008, but between his modest salary and the expensive market, he couldn’t swing it.

Want to Sell Your Home? Lower Your Price
One of the hardest things a home seller has to do is lower the asking price. Not only does it mean making less money on the sale, but it also shows weakness in an increasingly competitive market. A price reduction is often a red flag to home buyers that the seller is in no position to negotiate and that further reductions are possible.

Recession Remodeling
AS THE LOUSY ECONOMY makes large homes tough to maintain—and the tight credit market makes them even tougher to sell—the rules for remodeling are undergoing their own extreme makeover.

Train and The City
One exciting ripple effect of President Barack Obama's commitment to high-speed rail, which he demonstrated with an $8 billion pledge in federal stimulus money, is the promise of economic development in the areas surrounding transit hubs.

ADDITIONAL NEWS FROM AROUND DC REGION:

• Wiehle Ave. Metro gets stimulus money [Washington Business Journal]
• Seller, Salesman [Washington Post]
• Letter from Baltimore: Preserving the Preakness [Metropolis POV]
• Dumpy Brightwood Building Gets $4.6 Million Makeover [Housing Complex]
• Merrifield Development Authority Seen as One-Time County Effort [Fairfax Gazette]
• America's Top 25 Towns To Live Well [Forbes]
• A recession lesson for policymakers: There's a big upside to having fewer cars on the road [Examiner]
• Emission set to double in Germantown [Gazette]
• A Waterfront Hideaway That Grows [Washington Spaces]

Green Links

Green and Simple Living [Metropolitan Homes]

Tweet-a-Watt Kits for Twittering Your Energy Consumption [Tree Hugger]

Best New Green Materials for Your Interior [This Old House]

Metheny Modular Green Wedge House [Jetson Green]

Home Energy Savings in the Kitchen [Green Building Elements]

Green 'Tune Up' [Green and Save]

Soundproof your Space the Eco-Friendly Way [Planet Green]

Turn Waste Wood into Home Heat [Mother Earth News]

Eco-Friendly Kitchens, Bathrooms & Energy Guide Label

Here's Danny Seo, from Simply Green, takes you on a trip to the store showcasing the things that can help make your kitchen and bathroom eco-friendly. (click here to view the video clip).

And while you're here, we're going to take you down memory lane for an old post on how-to-read Energy Guide label that you can use for comparison shopping.

The purpose of the label for consumers to use it for comparison shopping. It is a fair comparison using similar product and rate based (average national rates as opposed to average local rates).

Here is the how-to, via Energy Savers.

1- Estimated energy consumption on a scale showing a range for similar model.

2- Estimated yearly operating cost based on the national average cost of electricity. 

By the way, there's a $1,500 tax credit for home energy efficiency improvement from Stimulus package in which you can get up to 30% of the cost or $1,500 credit for improvement around the house. Some of the things qualify for the credit, i.e. windows, doors, water heaters, solar panels, etc.

Will discuss this into more details what items qualify for the credit sometime next week. So check back for update..

How Long Will Your Appliances and Building Materials Last?

When you buy foreclosure or bank-owned properties, you buy it 'As-Is' conditions. There are times when we previewed properties we saw that there is practically nothing in the kitchen: it's a blank slate! Oh, how about a house with no flooring. Seriously, we've seen those, too.

So, knowing how much it's going to cost you to replace the appliances and average useful life helps to place priorities on your budget on which one that have longer vs short useful life, style, etc. And you can use this as a starting point to compare whether it's spending thousands of dollar in cash buying a cheap foreclosure vs. buying a house that's already move-in condition. According to REALTOR , the true longevity of any household material depends on maintenance, use, quality of installation, and climate conditions (based on NAHB report on life expectancy of home components).

Some of the things house related with their average useful life, via REALTOR.

100 Years or More
Brick siding: Lifetime of the home
All wooden floors: Lifetime of the home

Up to 50 YEARS
Kitchen Cabinets: Up to 50 years
Modified acrylic kitchen sinks: 50 years
Vinyl floors: 50 years

30-50 YEARS
Thermostat: 35 years
Wooden windows: 30 years
French interior doors: 30-50 years

10-20 YEARS
Aluminum windows: 15-20 years
Asphalt shingle roofs: 20 years
Faucets, kitchen sinks: 15 years
Gas ranges: 15 years
Cultured marble countertops: 20 years
Dryers and refrigerators: 13 years
Air conditioning units: 10-15 years
Lighting controls: 10+ years
Interior and exterior pains: 15+ years
Electric or gas water heaters: 10 years
Air conditioners: 10-15 years
Furnaces: 15-20 years

5-10 Years
Security systems: 5-10 years
Heat and smoke detector: 5-10 years
Dishwashers: 9 years
Microwave ovens: 9 years
Carpet: 8-10 years

Read full report here.

From Mental Hospital to DHS HQ

Department of Homeland Security is about to make the former St. Elizabeth Hospital their home. It's not going to be ready till 2016, though.

Weekly Real Estate News Roundup

* Home Price Decline Could Make Matters Worst
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A decline in U.S. home prices is needed to attract buyers back and end the housing slump, but with no bottom in sight, more trouble lies ahead for an economy that may already be in recession.

* Is There and Eco-friendly Sealer for my Granite Countertops?
Question: It's time to seal the granite countertops in my kitchen. I am looking for a sealer that is eco-friendly, nontoxic, and effective. Do you have any suggestions?

* Hurdles for Jumbo Borrowers
If you’re shopping for a new home and plan on taking out a big mortgage to pay for, it there are a few things you should know.

* Homeowner Equity Below 50% For First Time Since 1945
Americans' percentage of equity in their homes fell below 50 percent for the first time on record since 1945, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.

* Luxury Homes Buck the Trend
The housing market might be down, but that isn't stopping movie stars, hedge fund managers, and corporate titans from paying mammoth prices for the most lavish real estate on the planet.

* Economic Stimulus' Biggest Real Estate Winners
There's some good news on the horizon for homeowners in cities like  San Diego,  Washington D.C. and  Sacramento, Calif., where the real estate boom and bust has left those markets reeling from the effects of overbuilding, bad loans and foreclosures.

* Jumbo Conforming Loan Guidelines
Are here from Fannie Mae. I must say I am really surprised. This level of speed has "political pressure" written all over it.

* Banks are Still Fueling the Fire
God bless the account executives for banks that have put me on their rate sheet and promo distribution email lists without my permission.

* Viewpoint: FICO - The Late, Great Credit Score?
Is FICO still relevant to the mortgage industry? I can see it now: no matter how this question gets answered, it’s certain to elicit some response, which in fact, is the reason for the article.

* Foreclosures Hit Another Record High
The rate of mortgages entering foreclosure was at it highest level in the history of the MBA's quarterly national delinquency survey and the percent of loans somewhere in the foreclosure process also hit its highest level.

* Mortgage Market Needs $1 Trillion, FBR Estimates
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) - Why are interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rising even as the Federal Reserve slashes interest rates and yields on Treasury bonds fall? The answer is that the mortgage market is short of roughly $1 trillion in capital, according to Paul Miller, an analyst at Friedman, Billings, Ramsey.

* Paint Mini Guide

* Blacklisting Hits Home Sellers
In the nation's worst-hit real-estate markets, home sellers are suffering a new blow: They are being blacklisted by lenders.

* Buying in a Rocky Housing Market
INDIFFERENT TO THE bleak real estate headlines, 26-year-old Michael Klauer and his fiancée recently bought a two-bedroom condo in the desirable Lake View neighborhood in Chicago. They weren't in a rush to buy, but when an opportunity presented itself only a month after they started looking, they jumped on it.

* Self-Help Often Best When Fixing Credit
Dear Dr. Don, Is there a person or corporation specializing in analysis of credit reports and mapping out specific actions to be taken to improve credit scores?

*Open Season for Bargain Hunters
Intrepid home shoppers are venturing back into some of the nation's hardest-hit real-estate markets, convinced they can cherry-pick good deals amid broad price declines.

REGIONAL NEWS: DC-MD-VA

* Tysons Taskforce on the Home Stretch
After scores of public meetings, several rounds of analysis and three years of disagreements and information sessions and legos stacked on table maps, the Tysons Land Use Taskforce's plan for thirty years of development in Tysons Corner is starting to take shape.

* Court Ruling Could Imperil Arlington's Transit Projects
Last week's action by the Virginia Supreme Court to invalidate much of the Northern Virginia Transportation Authority's power to tax local residents for transportation improvements could have a big impact in Arlington.

* Fairfax Tax Officials Will Take New Look at Land Values
The county government's Department of Tax Administration (DTA) has announced it will take “a second look” at the allocation of the assessed value between land and buildings for 2008 assessments.

* DC USA Opens Its Doors
With the opening of the District's first Target, DC USA's doors were officially open to the public today. 

* Study: Mass Transit Saves Marylanders $346 M in Gas
BALTIMORE (Map, News) - Mass transit provides a big benefit to the environment and keeps millions of dollars in the pockets of its users, according to a new study released Thursday by the Maryland Public Interest Research Group.

* Builders Pull Out of Arundel Project
A national homebuilder has abandoned plans to raise what started as a 16-story condominium tower at the Annapolis Towne Centre at Parole, blaming an inability to finance the project amid the nationwide slump in the real estate industry, the developer of the $400 million center said yesterday.

* Buying? Here's What to Ask Agents
Would-be buyers in the market for an agent as well as a house should choose just as carefully as a seller.

* Students Take On Preservation of Historic Bladensburg Mansion
Prince George’s County (Map, News) - Architecture students at the University of Maryland have signed an agreement with the town of Bladensburg to preserve Bostwick, a 1746 mansion that is one of the oldest buildings in Prince George's County.

* Groundbreaking Due by Summer on $317 Million F.C. City Center
The biggest development project ever seen, much less enabled by government re-zoning and special exceptions, in the City of Falls Church was approved unanimously by its City Council last Thursday night, paving the way for the Atlantic Realty Company to spend $317 million building a new hotel, Class A office building, supermarket, blocks of retail, six-level parking deck, street, sidewalk and parkland improvements, and hundreds of residential condos, rental units, and townhouses.

* Developer Present Plans for Tenleytown Project
Three developers made their pitches to the Tenleytown community Thursday for the rights to expand Janney Elementary School, new housing and, possibly, a new Tenley-Friendship Heights neighborhood library.

* Don't Let Abusive Neighbors Ruin More Open Houses
Q: We listed our home for sale about a month ago, and our real estate agent has been conducting open houses. More than once, our next-door neighbor has made derogatory or rude remarks to the agent, potential buyers or other agents visiting.