Green Real Estate Appraiser

What’s in Store for the Real Estate Market this Fall?

Posted on August 13, 2013 | Leave a comment

From Karen Starr, The Grubb Co

Q: In your view, what is in store for the real estate market this fall?

A: Our fall market already feels as though it’s going to be a full speed ahead climate where buyers and sellers alike will need to be ready. It is normally a busy time for residential real estate sales.

Summer is winding down. Vacations are coming to an end. (Did I hear a wistful sign of sadness?) School will be back in session, freeing up time and energy to focus on making a move before the holiday season arrives. Interest rates remain amazingly low, and according to the tradespeople who follow my industry (painters, stagers, etc…) their “dance cards” are filling up fast with appointments for late August and September. They are super busy helping sellers prepare their homes for sale. I’m feeling a small “tsunami of inventory.”

Want to know what your home is worth now and in the future? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions. We can answer your questions for the San Diego Market.

Buyers, what might your to-do list look like for August? A few suggestions: Make sure your pre-approval letter is updated and that your lender/mortgage broker is standing by to customize that letter for the offer that you will be making. Select the right real estate broker/agent to work with, one who is on the same page with how you like to work, and on top of the market, both the inventory and the temperature (important in a multiple-offer situation). Know the inventory; go to open houses on the weekends to finely tune what you want and don’t. You will be a stronger partner for your agent, and together you will more quickly be able to find the home that is just right for you.

Sellers, get to work putting your house in proper order for your sale. Clean up the yard and do some pre-market planting now so that the plants will look more established when your lovely home makes its debut. Meet with your stager to walk through your house. Together you can determine what painting needs to be done and the extent of cleaning required to optimize the interior spaces for showing.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Are hybrids ‘greener’ than electric cars?

Posted on August 12, 2013 | Leave a comment

Electric cars don’t just have drivers. They have believers.

Most of the people buying electrics like the Nissan Leaf do so because they want to help the environment and fight climate change. The cars have plenty of other virtues, such as astonishing acceleration and virtually no engine noise. But eco-appeal remains their main attraction.

Does a home charging station add value to your home? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.

And yet, what if they aren’t the best cars for the climate?

A new study from Climate Central, a non-profit climate research group, argues that in most states, hybrid cars actually have lower lifetime greenhouse gas emissions than electrics.

The study is one of several published in recent years that tries to take a lifecycle approach to examining the benefits of electric transportation. They look at the greenhouse gas emissions that come from building the cars and generating the electricity they run on. For comparison, the studies also calculate the emissions produced by pumping oil from the ground, refining it in gasoline and burning it in cars.

All of the studies have shown that electric cars have higher greenhouse gas emissions in states that generate most of their electricity with coal than they do in states that rely more on nuclear plants or renewable power.

But how could an electric perform worse than a hybrid, which after all, still burns gasoline? Click here, and read on.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only.

Help For Jobless Homeowners

Posted on August 11, 2013 | Leave a comment

California homeowners who receive jobless benefits can get mortgage aid through a $2 billion government program.

Keep Your Home California offers as much as $3,000 a month to qualified residents for up to 12 months. The benefit previously ended after nine months and was recently extended.

The extension can be particularly helpful to property owners whose unemployment aid will run out by year’s end, state officials said.

Funded by federal money, Keep Your Home California provides financial relief to households at risk of slipping into the foreclosure process. The goal is to catch homeowners up on mortgage payments, help them relocate after a short sale and cut their mortgage principal.

Unemployment aid has been the most-used aspect of Keep Your Home California among San Diego County homeowners. More than 80 percent of the 2,200 San Diegans who have benefited from the overall program to date received unemployment aid — representing $23.6 million of help. Statewide, that share is lower, at 68 percent.

Program qualifications include having a hardship, having a mortgage balance of $729,750 or less, not being in the foreclosure process. For a full list, click here. Want to talk to someone at Keep Your Home California? Call (888) 954-5337.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

What’s in Store for the Real Estate Market this Fall?

Are hybrids ‘greener’ than electric cars?

Help For Jobless Homeowners

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