Green Real Estate Appraiser

7 ways to create a more energy efficient home

Posted on June 4, 2018 | Leave a comment

1. Ventilate naturally

Make sure your home has plenty of natural ventilation and light, says Jeff Angel of the Total Environment Centre.

“Cross-ventilation will enable it to get as much airflow through as possible, with cooling breezes in summer that means you don’t have to use airconditioning as much, if at all.”

Orienting a new home carefully and making sure it has a well-designed layout will help, but houses can also be renovated to introduce greater airflow with the use of louvres, too.”

Windows in areas that will see more sunlight, as well as the use of skylights, will also make a home brighter without the need for constant artificial lighting.

2. Seal the home

There are times when you’ll want to seal your house off completely from the outside to maintain a constant temperature inside. That’s when installing good insulation in the roof space and walls, effective water and draught proofing and double-glazing makes all the difference.

“That’s about making your house an excellent esky,” says architect Tone Wheeler of the Environa Studio. “It will help to preserve heat in winter and keep it cool in the hottest part of a mid-summer day.”

San Diego County’s home prices in March up 7.7%

Posted on May 30, 2018 | Leave a comment

The San Diego County median home price reached $515,000 in March, its highest point in a decade and a 7.7 percent increase in a year, real estate tracker CoreLogic reported Tuesday.

The median price had been below half a million dollars since October last year, which had some analysts surmising costs had hit an affordability wall. But, the March numbers show some buyers are willing to go higher to get homes.

While the new price might seem historically high, it is still below the nominal 2005 peak of $517,500, the equivalent of $644,487 in 2016 dollars after adjusting for inflation.

Analysts say a lack of available homes for sale is probably the biggest factor in March’s numbers, but there are other reasons, too.

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Dodd-Frank reform could make it easier to get a mortgage

Posted on May 29, 2018 | Leave a comment

It should be easier for you to get a mortgage if President Donald Trump signs legislation that will lift lending restrictions on community banks.

Congress on Tuesday voted in favor of rolling back Dodd-Frank banking rules. The reforms would ease some of the mortgage laws from the Dodd-Frank Act of 2010, a massive financial law enacted in response to the financial crisis.

The new changes will allow community banks and credit unions to offer mortgages outside the typical Qualified Mortgage rule so long as they don’t sell that mortgage but keep it in-house. By holding that mortgage on the books, it would be deemed a Qualified Mortgage. The carve-out would apply to institutions with less than $10 billion in assets.

Many lenders think this change would allow more community lenders to offer mortgages. It would also be helpful for homebuyers, when mortgage rates are rising but still low.

It’s unclear how much of an impact a change to the mortgage laws would have on the housing market. A large portion of homebuyers already meet the requirements within the Qualified Mortgage rule. The Urban Institute says the Qualified Mortgage rule has had “little impact” on credit availability, though there are fewer mortgages being offered for under $100,000.