Green Real Estate Appraiser

Make your home less of a health hazard

Posted on July 2, 2018 | Leave a comment

These tips aren’t medical; they’re environmental. What’s in your house, condo or apartment can impact how healthy you feel.

Essential indoor air quality

Energy-efficient home building codes can have a big impact by keeping air (and pollutants) locked inside.

“WWYW coined the term Tight Box Syndrome to describe the ventilation issue,” says Cooke. Harmful toxins are in products like paint, furniture finishes, carpeting, flooring, mattresses and even appliances and TVs, she adds. Cleaning products, pesticides and synthetic air fresheners can also adversely affect indoor air quality.

Kitchens and baths

Both of these well-used spaces can create IAQ issues, Cooke and Kreuzinger agree. And both require excellent ventilation systems. In the kitchen, “Recirculating hoods do not remove enough contaminants from the air,” WWYW’s founder advises. Not cleaning them regularly is another problem. “I personally think the solution is as simple as using a hood that supports disposable wool filters. They are compostable and are a natural fire retardant,” Cooke says. They are also easy to change and maintain, she adds. (If you’re not purchasing a new vent hood for your kitchen, check with the manufacturer or appliance instructions to make sure the one currently installed will work properly with disposable wool filters before purchasing them.)

Sleeping areas

“Allergens in bedrooms have the greatest effect on allergies because of the amount of time one tends to spend there,” the doctor says. “The most common indoor allergens are dust mites, pets and molds. Dust mites are very prevalent in beds, so we recommend covering mattresses, box springs and pillows with special casings and washing all bedding in hot water every two weeks.”

“Natural bedding made of cotton, linen, hemp or bamboo should be considered for comfort,” Cooke says. “Mattresses made of quilted or tufted all-natural materials including wool and cotton batting should be your first choice in achieving a healthy bedroom.” The others can include toxins, she says, and should be stored in a garage during their off-gassing period.

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San Diego home price stays at $570k

Posted on June 22, 2018 | Leave a comment

San Diego County’s record-breaking home price was unchanged in May at $570,000, increasing 7.6 percent in a year, real estate tracker CoreLogic reported Thursday.

May’s median ends a streak of new records each month for the county home price, with $570,000 still being the highest of all time.

The majority of May’s increase was led by resale single-family homes as the resale condo price dipped.

There were 4,004 homes that sold in May, down from 4,155 at the same time last year. It follows a trend throughout Southern California of declining sales as prices reach new records.

CoreLogic analyst Andrew LePage wrote in the report that a limited number of homes for sale and declining affordability for the average buyer is leading to a reduction in sales.

Here’s how the different home types fared:

Resale single-family home: Hit an all-time record of $619,500, increasing 5 percent in a year. There were 2,470 sales, down 6.7 percent from the same time last year.
Resale condo: Down a half a percent from last month for a median of $428,000 with 1,191 sales, down 6.3 percent from same time last year. The resale condo price has increased 9.5 percent in a year.
Newly built homes: New homes and condos hit a median of $696,500 with 343 sales. The price fluctuates more than other home categories because of low supply, a far cry from before the housing crash in 2006 when up to 1,200 new homes sold in a month.

Declining sales comes as there has been an increase in home inventory the past few months. There were 6,090 homes listed for sale in May, up from 5,060 in May 2017 and 5,913 in May 2016, said the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors.

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The secret to keeping your bedroom cool on hot summer nights

Posted on June 11, 2018 | Leave a comment

It’s official – the chill of winter is just a memory and we can emerge from our warm, stuffy burrows to sniff the air and greet the sun. Although summer brings an invigorating feeling of freedom from bundling up in woolly layers and hogging the heater, clammy summer nights frequently impair effective sleep. Here’s how to keep cool in the bedroom and increase all-important rest time.

Love your linen
Bedlinen has a significant effect on sleep quality. In hot weather, the prime factors are breathability, and moisture-wicking, the ability of fabric to draw moisture from skin to outer layers of clothing or release it into the air. Natural fabrics are more effective at this than blends containing polyester or other synthetics. Cotton and linen are superb for breathability, and bamboo has superior moisture-wicking abilities.

Open wide
It’s been proven that a cool bedroom, around 18 to 20°C, promotes restful sleep, even in winter. A well-ventilated room is essential to prevent a stuffy atmosphere that gets warmer during the night. Without resorting to power-hungry air-con, try opening windows to take advantage of lower night temperatures and fresh air.

Tip: If bedroom windows are exposed to full sun during the day, keep them closed and curtains and blinds drawn to stop heat build-up. Open them when the sun goes down and temperatures drop.

disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only