Green Real Estate Appraiser

Hey Appraiser – How Much Value Does My Home Boxing Ring Add? What if Mike Tyson Use to Own My Home?

Posted on January 19, 2015 | Leave a comment

Celebrity homes are a bright slice of the high-end real-estate market well beyond Hollywood. And for stars with money and imagination to spare, unique or quirky add-ons are routine. Neverland Ranch, the late Michael Jackson’s former Southern California ode to childhood — amusement park, bumper cars and all — is not alone as an example of personalized architectural opulence.

According to real estate expert and author Michael Corbett, who hosts “Mansions and Millionaires” on NBC’s “Extra,” quirky add-ons don’t necessarily make homes more valuable to potential buyers, especially if those quirks — say, a boxing ring, or a $70,000 wall of candy — limit the field of those interested. A celebrity name attached, though, does help.

“The rule of thumb is that celebrity homes don’t necessarily sell because they’re celebrity homes,” Corbett says. “Yet celebrities definitely increase marketability of a property. That increases the speed of the sale and sometimes the value of the property because of the marketability.”

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Solar Jobs Report Shows Huge Growth

Posted on January 17, 2015 | Leave a comment

WASHINGTON -– The solar industry reports job growth 20 times higher than the rest of the U.S. economy, according to a new analysis.

As of 2014, there were nearly 174,000 jobs in the solar industry, according to the report from the nonprofit Solar Foundation. That represents 86 percent employment growth since the organization began tracking job figures in 2010. By the end of 2015, companies said they expect to hire an additional 36,000 new solar workers.

The solar industry installed 7,200 megawatts of new solar power last year, the foundation said.

More than half of the solar industry jobs -– 55 percent -– involved installation, and 19 percent were in manufacturing. The report found those jobs pay an average of $20 to 24 an hour

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10 Things Contractors Won’t Tell You

Posted on January 15, 2015 | Leave a comment

1. License? What license?

With the economy rebounding, homeowners may be more likely to include remodeling projects in their 2015 budgets. Spending on home improvements has nearly recovered from the Great Recession, with an estimated $314 billion spent in 2014, up from a low of $276.5 billion in 2011, says Kermit Baker of the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

That means more business for good and bad contractors alike. Unfortunately for consumers, telling the two apart isn’t always easy.

2. Our contract favors me

When it’s time to sign on the dotted line, most contractors will present homeowners with a boilerplate agreement, experts say. While it’s fine to start off with a standard document from the American Institute of Architects or other organization, the contractor should add plenty of detail particular to the job, Pendleton says. At worst, a boilerplate contract with scant detail leaves a contractor too much wiggle room to add expenses or cut corners, and at best it leaves room for misunderstanding.

3. I could take your money and run

Home improvement and construction complaints ranked second out of the top 10 consumer complaints of 2012, according to a Consumer Federation of America survey of state and local consumer protection agencies. Industry experts say that such scams can run the gamut including doing shoddy work, failing to complete the job, and preying on natural disaster victims. And some scammers simply collect a down payment on a job and disappear.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Hey Appraiser – How Much Value Does My Home Boxing Ring Add? What if Mike Tyson Use to Own My Home?

Solar Jobs Report Shows Huge Growth

10 Things Contractors Won’t Tell You

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