Category Archives: Uncategorized

VA Adds A Green Appraiser to Their Panel Of Appraisers in Southern California

Posted on July 14, 2013 | Leave a comment

Starting next week the VA in San Diego will have an appraiser that is well qualified to appraise energy-efficient and green properties. Rene Seabourne of Southern California Appraisal Services, Inc has been added to list of fee panel appraisers for the VA loan program.

Ms. Seabourne is one of the few appraisers in the country qualified to appraise green and energy efficiency properties and now our vets will be able to take advantage of her expertise. Ms Seabourne not only is a Certified Residential Real Estate Appraiser but she is a BPI Certified Building Analyst, a Certified Green Real Estate Professional and Certified Solar System Designer.

Ms. Seabourne has been called on numerous times to help homeowners rebut prior appraisals that gave no adjustment for energy upgrades and solar systems. “Every week I get calls from homeowners telling me they did not get credit (adjustment) for their energy upgrades or their solar system and were told there is no value because there are no comps to support value. Every case is unique but there are other ways of determining value beside available comps; and most appraisers are not aware of the other methods or just do not know how to do an energy-efficient property”.

Energy efficient properties will only increase in the future and make sure you get the value you deserve. Request a qualified “green” appraiser from your lender to insure you get the value for your upgrades.

If you have any questions about “green” property appraisals contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com

Ms. Seabourne is the chief residential appraiser at Southern California Appraisal Services located in San Diego and is also a certified FEMA inspectors as well as her other accomplishments. Ms Seabourne will continue doing conventional appraisal work as well as her VA work. Call the experts at Southern California Appraisal Services for your appraisal needs.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Pollution Hot Spots In San Diego-External Obsolscence?

Posted on July 13, 2013 | Leave a comment

Barrio Logan, a port community at the intersection of freeways and industry, is the crossroads of pollution risk for San Diego County, according to CalEnviroscreen, a new state program that ranks communities by their environmental health.

The California Environmental Protection Agency recently rolled out the program to highlight areas most affected by pollution. Also high on the list for this county are parts of Escondido, Chula Vista, National City and El Cajon.

Does pollution effect the value of your home? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your home value and real estate appraisal questions.

The program is something that various public-health and environmental groups have long sought: a way of analyzing the combined effects of multiple pollutants along with residents’ susceptibility to their risks. But reducing pollution at the worst sites will require state funding — at the expense of other needs competing for the same money.

The report measures air and water pollution, diesel exhaust, toxins and other factors to calculate pollution burdens of communities at the ZIP code level. It also evaluates socioeconomic and health factors such as asthma rates, poverty and ethnicity to determine the population’s vulnerability to pollution.

The final ranking is the product of the pollution and population scores, with the highest scores highlighting the most environmentally impaired communities. Those areas are entitled to funding for environmental cleanup or sustainable development through the state’s greenhouse gas cap-and-trade program.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Solar Energy for People Who Can’t Afford It

Posted on July 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

Make your own heating for your home

Jason Edens started experimenting with a solar-powered furnace because he didn’t have any money and he didn’t want to be cold. He is happy to explain how “solar thermal” technology works. It’s what he does as the founding director of the Rural Renewable Energy Alliance, which manufactures and installs solar energy systems across nine states.

First, here is what a solar-powered furnace isn’t: the familiar shiny photovoltaic panels that rest on the roof, generating electricity year-round. Instead, “essentially it is an aluminum-and-glass box,” said Mr. Edens, 41. Inside one of these solar thermal systems “is what I like to call a sun sponge or the absorber, the part that inverts the irradiance of the sun into useful heat.”

Will a solar powered furnace add value to your home in San Diego? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.

Still can’t picture it? Try this: A solar-powered furnace is a slab of coated metal and a fan. The technology, which was patented way back in 1881, Mr. Edens said, operates when the sun shines.

But let’s get back to that cold winter a dozen years ago in Pine River, Minn. Mr. Edens, then a graduate student in environmental policy, was so poor that he ran out of propane to heat his 1,250-square-foot home.