Tag Archives: real estate appraisal

SPU Working with Small Business Owners to Save Energy, Money

Posted on July 12, 2012 | Leave a comment

Seattle Public Utilities expanding Get on the Map program for minorities who own small businesses.

Exequiel Soltero had two reasons for taking advantage of Seattle Public Utilities’ latest green initiative: the prospect of saving money and improving his Mexican restaurant’s recycling practices.

Called Get on the Map, the Seattle utility has spent the last year working with ethnic minorities such as Soltero who own a small business to make changes, such as installing an energy-efficient dishwasher, faucet and toilet, to save energy and money.

Soltero says he has saved an additional $1,250 on his garbage bill by recycling and composting at Maya’s, his Rainier Valley restaurant. His 16 employees have been trained to separate waste according to material — paper, bottles and cans, glass and cardboard — instead of “dumping all the trash in the disposal or the garbage.”

The restaurant also composts all food scraps in a bin.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Five Inexpenisive Updates for a Small Bathroom

Posted on July 11, 2012 | Leave a comment

Five ways to make a smaller bath more livable without spending thousands:

1. Showerheads

Pamper yourself with a unit that offers spray and massage. In most showers, the switch is as easy as unscrewing the old showerhead and twisting on a new one.

Will this add value to your property? Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your value questions.

2. Shower curtains and doors

Some shower curtains have pockets to stash lotions, loofahs and other accessories. For a more upscale look, try hinged or sliding doors that secure to the top of the tub. Choose from clear, smoked or etched glass.

Disclaimer: for information and entertainment purposes only

Use Your Remodeling Dollars Wisely

Posted on July 10, 2012 | Leave a comment

Time was, and not all that long ago, that putting money into your house before putting it on the market paid off at resale.

Contact the appraisers at www.scappraisals.com for your questions if remodeling project will add value to your home.

But the “sluggish housing market continues to push down remodeling return on investment,” Sal Alfano writes in the most recent Cost vs. Value Report issued by Remodeling magazine, with the overall average cost-to-value ratio dropping to 57.7 percent from its peak in 2005 of 86.7 percent.

Even though the cost of remodeling itself has continued to fall, that’s effectively counteracted by a drop in resale values, Alfano said.

Bottom line: There is no guarantee that any improvement will boost the sale price of a house, especially in a real estate market in which even multiple offers typically result only in an amount near or slightly above asking price.

Yes, doing the necessary improvements to a house will help it compete. If two houses are for sale on the same street for the same price and one has a new roof while the other needs one, it’s not hard to figure out which might sell first. But “might” is the operative word in an era when little about the real estate market is a certainty.

New roof or not, a house’s list price must be appropriate for the market to attract buyers, who likely will not only expect leak-free conditions, but also a furnace and air conditioning that work properly.