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

Energy Plan for Arlington County Community

Last Saturday, Jay Fisette, Chairman of Arlington County Board hosted the first community energy plan townhall meeting. The community energy plan is a holistic approach that paved the way for the county's transformation moving away from a fossil-fuel economy toward a clean energy economy. The idea is to look into energy needed per neighborhood by neighborhood, comparing scenarios between business as usual with efficiency. Energy use is divided into heating, cooling, lighting and other type. The types of building stock for the county includes hotels, offices, retails, homes (condominium, single family, townhouse) and other.

• 
• 
• 
• 

THE primary driver of the community energy plan is to make Arlington competitive in the carbon constraint economy. We're no longer in competition with another American city, but we're competing within the global community. Think Copenhagen. They started implementing clean energy policies at the same time the U.S. was faced with oil crisis. That was in the '70s. The "big" difference is, the Danes put to work a comprehensive energy (read: clean energy) policy moving away from fossil-fuel to clean energy. They had a mission: survival. They keep practicing what they preach, perfecting the technologies. Thirty years later Denmark becomes the world's leader for wind energy, assortment of clean technologies. (New York Times has a story on Denmark's trash - should say waste to - energy). It sums up in one phrase: go to Denmark if you want to see it.

The county has done some preliminary work. This image below shows the county energy use. 

 

According to one of the officials spoke at the meeting, the big users of energy in Arlington is the commercial (real estate) sector. So if energy use can be efficient, just by reducing the use from this sector alone, the move could save businesses' money that in return would be good for bottom line.

Listening to inputs from residents, one of the things mentioned was the language in condominium document that couldn't make assessment when they tried to something for newer more efficient, that the language of the doc says ".. improvement has to be in-kind." It has something to do with Virginia Condominium Act. It is universal language, at this moment. Only Virginia assembly can change this.

While at the meeting, I interviewed Jay about Arlington's energy plan. Here's what Jay said..

Related articles by Zemanta

• Arlington Community Energy Plan (metrodcliving.com)

Top 10 Home Selling Mistakes

Image by Casey Serin via Flickr

Sellers, take note of this. (The list is so good that I'm putting it in its entirety).  From Marketwatch real estate weekly via email.

10. Waiting until spring to sell. People buy homes all year, so play up the home's seasonal amenities and take advantage of serious buyers looking in the off-season.

9. Not understanding the real estate contract. Go over the fine print of the agreement with your real-estate agent or attorney before signing to make sure you understand your responsibilities as well as any demands the buyer has made.

8. Going it alone without researching first. Selling a home for-sale-by-owner take time, and requires you to do paperwork, marketing and showings. Make sure you're up for the work involved in return for saving on the real-estate agent commission fee.

7. Ignoring lowball offers. If buyers submit a low offer, don't reject it completely. Counteroffer to see if they are willing to negotiate.

6. Wasting time on an unqualified buyer. Make sure a potential buyer is prequalified for a loan before accepting an offer.

5. Skimping on marketing. Mix traditional advertising, including a sign in the yard and an ad in a homes magazine, with Web techniques, including online photos and video.

4. Sabotaging the showing. Leave the home when it is being shown to prospective buyers so they can more easily focus, and make sure the home is accessible with convenient showing hours and a lockbox for agents.

3. Not prepping for the sale. Visit open houses in the neighborhood to get a sense of what the competition offers, then make fixes and updates, declutter and clean to outshine them.

2. Overimproving. Don't make so many upgrades that you price your home out of the appropriate range for the area and fail to recoup your investment.

1. Overpricing. Your home should be priced in line with homes in the area that are of similar age, style and size.

Energy Star (Efficiency) for Water Heaters

In light of rising energy prices, energy efficiency is the way to go. Not only you improve your cash flow by saving money on your utility bills (and hedge against rising fuel prices in the background), but also this is the simplest thing an individual can do, especially if you're planning to do some remodeling your home or just replacing your water heater. Plus - efficiency is good for the environment (and it's green).  

CROSSPOSTED at TALKING GREEN

So this is new categories for water heaters. For the first time there are five categories of water heaters eligible for Energy Star labels, via DOE press release.

1. High-performance gas storage
2. Whole home gas tankless
3. Advance drop in or integrated heat pump
4. Solar, and
5. Gas condensing

Energy efficiency is the easiest thing to do for everyone concern. A slight tweak into one's habit to reduce energy consumption will save money on energy bills and carbon dioxide emissions and it's good for the environment. You see water heaters consumes about 17% (up from 13% in 2005) of energy in homes, making it the third largest energy user behind 1) heating and cooling and 2) appliances.

"...the new water heater criteria are expected to save Americans approximately $780 million in utility costs, avoid 4.2 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions, and achieve cumulative energy savings of more than 3.9 billion kilowatt-hours and 270 million therms of natural gas."

Let's say you buy solar water heater. Unlike solar panels, the payback for solar water heater - since you don't pay for the fuel (fuel is free) - is rather faster. According to a recent study in the U.K.  the average household can save $450 a year. Okay, it may be a little bit different here. But, you get the idea. The 'fuel' is free..forever! All investment needed is the system which can run from $5k-10k. The higher the utility costs the faster the payback.

Depending on where you live you can take advantage of Federal tax credit and state or local (financial) incentives combined which can reduce the cost of buying the system offset by the tax benefits received. The Fed gives you 30% credit up to $2,000 (at least until 12/31/08). In Virginia, if you're replacing water heater you can take advantage of residential energy efficiency finance program offered by No. VA Electric Coop (NOVEC) via Sun Trust. Of course, there are other 'utility' loans available as well.

When the new category of efficiency goes into effect in January 1, 2009, with exception of high-efficiency and high-performance gas storage that goes into effect in 2 phases - each category of water heater must  maintain a minimum 'Energy (efficiency) Factor' or EF - which is a measure of efficiency based on the amount of hot water produced per unit of fuel consumed over a typical day. The higher energy factor the more efficient the water heater. For example, the minimum EF of whole home gas tankless come January 1, 2009 must have a minimum of 0.82, minimum gallons-per-minute flow of 2.5 at 77 degrees Fahrenheit rise, which is 41.4% more efficient than the current Federal standard.

Read more details, here.

image: solar tube water heater at Washington DC Solar Decathlon

Fairfax Transportation Plan

TRAFFIC jam. Beltway and I-95 congestions. These are common scenes in metro DC region. It's like a routine because it happens sooo often almost daily. Haven't heard a day goes by without traffic congestion along I-95, 395 and 495 corridor, especially during rush hour. The other day, I got stuck in the beltway coming from I-270 going to Virginia. It took me almost an hour crawling literally at 5 mi per hour just to cross the Legion bridge from Md. to Va.! (I was so sick of it.)

So what's Fairfax solution to transportation problems we have? If you look at Fairfax transportation plan that was amended and adopted by county board of supervisors in August 2007, you'd see that there will be two (not one) HOT lanes projects slated for Fairfax county. The other one, we've already talked about it sometime last week. That is the Capital Beltway HOT lanes project (from Springfield mixing bowl or interchange to Tysons corner) in which preparation for the construction of the project have already started, according to the information on their website.

The other HOV/HOT lanes project (still pending budget) is known in short as "I-95/395 HOV/Bus/HOT lanes connecting Fredericksburg region to Washington DC via I-95 from Massaponax in Spotsylvania, going north run through three counties - Stafford, Prince William, and Fairfax - to end at Pentagon via I-395. Click for full map here.

I-95/395 Proposed Improvements At-A-Glance

• Expanded and improved highway system for all motorists
• Expansion of the existing HOV lanes from two lanes to three lanes
• Extension of the existing HOV lanes 28 miles south to Massaponax
• 33 new entry and exit points to key activity and employment centers, such as Fort Belvoir, the Pentagon and Shirlington
• Estimated $390 million in improvements to public transportation in the corridor, including new buses and bus routes
• Approximately 3,000 new Park & Ride spaces
• Enhancements to 12 existing bus stations Design solutions to help alleviate existing bottlenecks on the HOV lanes
• Enhanced incident response and enforcement

In the meantime, the 8 mile construction for adding a fourth lane to I-95 in each direction from Fairfax County Pkwy to Rt. 123 at Occoquan River should begin this year. So expect closures at nights and during off-peak hours. It'll take 4 years to complete. TRAVEL ALERT: For travel advisory click here.

Another project that is on the book has something to do with BRAC. From the map, it looks like there will be some sort of rail transit (monorail) or bus rapid transit connecting Ft. Belvoir with Pentagon with 6-7 rail stops along Route 1.

The HOT I-95/395/HOV/HOT lanes project is good to solve traffic congestion for DC region, I just wish that VDOT would do more by focusing on alternative method of mass transit like light rail. The HOT lanes will probably cut down the number of cars traveling north-south bound on I-95, but that won't be enough. Think about this, by the time the project finishes, the number of cars on the road will explode - unless, we do something to drastically reduce 'Americans love affair' (or addiction) with cars.

* Fairfax transportation plan [PDF]

Climate Change and Real Estate

What climate change got to do with real estate? It all started out at homes. The electricity generated by buildings sector contributes one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions. According to Pew Center for Climate Change, buildings sector accounts for 43% of total carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions [chart below].

image: Pew Center on Global Climate Change

As you can see from the chart above and breaking it down further, the real estate industry that includes commercial and residential accounted for a total of 38% of total CO2 emissions in 2002. Residential sector produces 21% of CO2. To put it in context, in total electricity spew about 38 % of CO2 emissions to the atmosphere -- mostly come from electricity generated in homes, offices and industrial buildings -- that power everything from heating and cooling, fixtures, lighting, appliances, computers, and cell phones. Yes, your cell phones, too. That is one-third of the total U.S. CO2 emissions! Hello?

Okay, here is the thing Realtors don't build homes, they sell. Builders, are supposedly in the forefront of this carbon footprint because they build homes. How many energy-efficient homes being built in this area? Very, very few...if any. Knowing what we know about how greenhouse gas emissions causing the average global temperatures to rise, why haven't more low-energy (smart) homes being built? I found it intriguing to see why builders haven't done more beyond installing energy-efficient appliances? Costs? Yes, there's that. But the difference won't be much. Then, the marketing side of it. Whatever.

When you think about it, it is much easier to start from scratch in building low-energy homes (or even zero energy homes) than to retrofit later.

Now we know that there is virtually no limit on how high energy prices can climb. We saw crude oil price passing the 'psychological' mark of $100 yesterday. That got every one on the econ pundit lists talking about the possibility of recession. In real life, how is it going to impact you? It will have an impact on 1) your 'disposable income', and 2) because of that, you now have to 'seriously' take a hard look at how well you manage your finances.

image: Energy Information Administration

When it hits our pocketbook badly, we have no choice - but, to react. Control spending (now?)... er, reduce expenses. At home, that means, spending less money on energy bills. The dollars and cents approach to be energy-efficient.

It's only a matter of time before we see the interest into home energy conservation techniques - to spike up. Energy efficiency (inside the home) first before even thinking about going solar.

The good news. When we apply energy conservation at home, it reduces the strain on the grid. The move is not only help to cut our energy bills, but also reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere. And, it helps save the environment we live in.

UPDATE: If you haven't read it yet. Dominion Power receives 'the blessing' from Virginia environmental regulators and U.S. Forest Service the tentative okay (whatever that means) to build a clean coal plant in Wise County. What clean coal? And guess what? Excuse for the plant: To meet the demand in Northern Virginia. [source: Bristol Herald]

Cross-posted with Talking Green

image: MSNBC
source: PEW Center on Global Climate Change

Technorati Tags: energy-efficient,climate change,al gore,global warming,NAHB,zero energy home,environment,pew center global climate,carbon dioxide,CO2 emissions,GHG,smart energy homes,new homes,retrofit,solar homes,renewable energy,NAR

Cost vs. Value 2007: Remodeling

To continue with the annual tradition of remodeling cost and its payback, Realtor and Remodeling magazine brought back the survey for 2007 remodeling costs from around the nation. Going along with the market trends, it shows that the value of remodeling trended down because of the same economic reasons facing housing: 1) Rising (remodeling) costs, and 2) Declining home values.

What they don't mention in the survey, is what is your return on investment if you just do some really basic minor jobs, i.e. painting,  replacing carpet to hardwood, etc. In reality, a good quality hardwood flooring 'wow' buyers more than carpet! The return on energy-efficient appliances still missing. There will come a day when energy-efficient appliances become the 'it' trend.

Of all types of remodeling, minor kitchen job (ROI = 83%) holds its value in comparison to upscale remodeling job, like siding replacement using fiber cement materials (88.1%).

The remodeling costs also depends on which part of the country your home is located. For mid-Atlantic region, here is a sample of remodeling jobs with the return of investments. Using data from Remodeling and Realtor.

• Deck wood addition (85.6%)
• Minor kitchen (82.7%) vs. upscale major kitchen work (79.3%)
• Siding replacement using fiber-cement materials (89.4%) vs. upscale roofing (69.9%)

For Washington DC region DC/MD/VA. Upscale siding replacement pays back 87.4% of your investment at resale. Deck addition, surprisingly holds the highest return of 98.1%. Window replacement ROI 83.1% vs. minor kitchen remodel 81.9%. When you put value in the context, using the data,  a minor kitchen remodel would cost you on average $21,109 with payback at resale of 81.9%. While deck addition would cost you on ave. $10,260 with ROI estimate at 98.1%.

So- before doing any remodeling job, get your budget straight and weigh all options to determine which part of your house that would get the makeover first. The job that potentially has the highest potential returns for your money.

Depending on your location, to get the most bang for your buck, especially if you're selling, you might want to get some idea from region specific report, here.

Technorati Tags: remodeling,cost vs. value,reator,minor kitchen remodel,upscale kitchen remodel,siding replacement,hardwood floors,carpet,bosch,ge profile,energy star appliances

For DC Declining Markets, Buyers to Pay More Jan '08

If you are thinking about buying sometime soon, you will have to up your savings. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have changed their lending policies with regards to declining markets, including our area.

Email I received a few days ago from a lender.

click on image to enlarge

To determine declining markets (declining house values), the agencies use three different indicators: S&P Case-Shiller Index, NAR statistics, and Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight [OFHEO].

Effective for mortgage loans with an application date on or after January 15, 2008, Fannie Mae restricts the maximum loan-to-value ratio and combined loan-to-value ratio for properties located in a declining market to five percentage points less than the maximum permitted for the selected mortgage product. [emphasis mine]

via Fannie Mae

What that means to you? If you are qualified for LTV 95/5 with 5 percent downpayment, and you are buying in a declining market, you will now have to "up" your DP from 5 percent to 10 percent. 

Furthermore, lower credit score buyers will have to pay points in addition to the higher DP - if buying in a declining market and financed with conventional loans (up to $417.9k).

Also new for 2008, Risk based pricing for conventional products.  Borrowers with lower credit scores will experience an add-on to the points as follows: 

Below 620 (..or missing score)	2.00%
620-639	1.75%
640-659	1.25%
660-679	0.75%

There you go. It's back to basic: Save more money for your home and maintain good credit score.

Technorati Tags: fannie mae,freedie mac,conventional loans,ARMs,risk based pricing,lenders,bankers,mortgage bankers association,max LTV

30 Condos Sold in An Hour?

That's right. There was this auction a couple of weeks ago for the remaining 30 units at Parkside of Alexandria. According to Cityfeet, the auction actually did better than expected. All of the units were gone in an hour!

Seeking to unload the 30 remaining condos at the 378-unit Parkside at Alexandria complex, Mid-City Urban put them out for auction last week. The results were better than the Silver Spring, MD-based development firm had expected: the units, which started at $225,000 sold within the hour at prices ranging from $288,000 to $362,000.

The $225,000 represented a significant discount from recent market trades. According to Delta Assoc., the price set before the auction--approximately $204 per sf for the three-bedroom homes, and $212 per sf for the two-bedroom units--is less than half the current average per-square-foot price of new condos in the Arlington/Alexandria area.

via Cityfeet

If they could move 30 condos within an hour, that is amazing. On the other hand, with the way market is heading, it does not look that the prices those buyers paid consider 'good buys' in any stretch of imagination. Think about it.

Based on market research using data from MRIS, sales of 2BR+ condo sold in the City of Alexandria from September 1, 2007 to date, shows a trend that prices paid were 4-5% off the asking price. Using the data and working backwards, we know that developer reserve price was $225k, you then add 4-5% to the reserve.. that should be the price paid. Then, it would be a steal.. er, good deal.

It's too late now for those buyers to get out from the contract. Because there's no way out when buying property from an auction!

The next time you want to buy property on auction, make sure that you prepare yourself. Do your home work. Check what properties been selling in the neighborhood. Plug in all the numbers to see a trend up or down. Then decide your own 'reserve' price. Don't buy on emotion. Stick to your game plan. 

 

Solar Decathlon - Contest for the Fittest

I had the opportunity to go to the Mall to see the 2007 Solar Decathlon, the competition, this past Sunday. Twenty teams competed in this year's competition.

The event was well attended. There were so many people around. You see long lines everywhere. The long lines deterred me to wait in line and see each individual home. So- instead of waiting in lines, I tried to capture the pictures of some of the houses in the competition.

Pictures speak louder than words.

You'll see (below) that some of these houses are boxy-looking-contemporary themes. From marketability point of view, I am not sure if regular Joe and Jane buyers would be attracted to such design.  Will it sell? That's a good question. There is no actual data of how many solar-powered homes are in the Washington Metro area. From the DC Solar Homes Tour, there were 40 area homes take part in the tour. But, really - is it really only 40 solar homes out there? It's gotta be more than that. A solar-powered home supposedly have higher resale value.

The Solar Decathlon is competed in 10 different areas: 1) Architecture, 2) Engineering, 3) Market Viability, 4) Communications, 5) Comfort Zone, 6) Appliances, 7) Hot Water, 8) Lighting, 9) Energy Balance, and 10) Getting Around (to fuel their electric vehicle).

These student-designed homes are completely off-grid. Meaning that the energy generated to run the house from electricity, running the appliances, cooling and heating, and power electric vehicle MUST come exclusively from direct sun or solar-powered. You will see the contestants use green strategies to built the homes: Green building, passive solar energy and daylighting, evacuated-tubed solar thermal collectors (to heat water), and active solar PV energy.

SOME OF THE CONTESTANTS

Santa Clara University

University of Maryland

University of Missouri-Rolla

Penn State

Lawrence Technological University

NY Institute of Technology

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Kansas Solar House Project

Cornell University

Observation from the outside, it looks like the homes are designed to suit the type of climate of where the universities are based at. You will see that solar home designed by students from -- Texas !&M, Univ. of Texas at Austin, Kansas Project Solar House (KSU and Univ. of Kansas), Georgia Institute of Technology -- are solar panels heavy.

MOST UNIQUE: UNIV. of COLORADO at BOULDER

This house is unique because "..the core of the house -- including the heating and cooling systems, electrical service, laundry, and kitchen -- are all enclosed within two modified shipping containers."

Recycle products. Surplus shipping containers. Interesting concept.

Just for the fun of it. Here is my pick four looking it from architecture or design and market viability:

• University of Maryland [won the communication contest!]
• Cornell University
• Lawrence Technological University
• And the uber German-made, Technische Universitat Darmstadt. The made in Germany is  high-tech designed with low-tech passive way to condition the house. 

The Awards Ceremony is this coming Friday, October 19 at 2 pm. Come and see this year's winners of Solar Decathlon.

Looking at the flow of people going to see the competition on solar-powered homes, you can feel that the future looks bright for solar.

Cross-posted with Shades of Green.

Links:

* SOLAR DECATHLON Website
* PHOTO GALLERY OF HOMES
* SOLAR DECATHLON TEAMS

This Builder Freaked Out

About a year ago, I posted something about this condo conversion development in Vienna-Oakton area. Guess what? Yesterday, almost a year later, I received email from one of their guys [read: sales rep]

...Thank you for providing our property information on your website.  It is very well written and appreciated.  However, I must ask that you remove the incentive and pricing information as it is incorrect.  My broker and the owner we represent, require that incentive and pricing information only be distributed directly from them or our sales office.  I have pasted the link to the page to which I am referring.  Again, thanks for your support and I look forward to doing business with you!

(emphasis mine)

Link to the post

The story was posted in October of 2006. This is October 2007. Hello..?? It tells us a) They're desperate now, that's why it took them a year to find what kind of publicity they have online, or b) Business is so slow now that they have plenty-of-time to spend online.

Blogging is about transparency in sharing information.

1. It is a bad PR strategy on their part. Instead of providing up-to-date information, they asked part of the information to be removed. Asking to put a disclaimer 'pricing subject to change without notice,' should be sufficient.
2. Think of the post as a free publicity for the builder, which they should be thankful for. There is no money exchange hands. The only time I got compensated is whenever a buyer selected me to represent her or him in a transaction. 
3. The intention of posting the development is, about sharing the information with the public so they can make 'informed decision' about which condominium or development they want to preview and/or purchase. 
4. Pre-2005 market, Realtors know that (some) builders have love-hate relationships with Realtors. They didn't like compensating a Realtor, because it affected their pocketbook! 
5. Post-2005 market, when the going gets tough that 'attitude' changed! Builders realized that they need us. They are now paying us regular or higher compensation ..and once in a blue moon they would pay us bonus for bringing clients. 
6. When they say that "..incentive and pricing be distributed directly from them..," it means that they wanted YOU, Mr. and Ms. Buyer, to come to their office just to get the information. If you noticed, only a few builders (PN Hoffman, for example) provides "the pricing transparency" by posting this kind of information on their website. For the rest of the community - you literally have to come to their office to get the information. A face time: Increases the chances of closing a deal.

The next time you want to preview a new development, make sure that you ask a Realtor (I don't care who you take it with you) to come with you. Whenever they see you come with one of us -- a Realtor -- it gives you a level playing field. They compensate us. Without a Realtor, you are helping them fatten their profits. Because they don't have to pay us to broker the deal!

My message to them - Get Over It. What is so sacred about pricing and incentives? After this, I may have to 'fly under-the-radar' to get the information I need for you.

Talk about freedom of speech.

Technorati Tags:  PN Hoffman ,  NAHB ,  builders close-outs ,  builders incentives ,  fourwinds ,  housing market ,  realtor ,  NAR ,  blog ,  tranparency ,  freedom of speech