Home Selling Process

Go Home . . . and Bring Home that Dog!

#HomeRocks.  Home Rocks with even more gusto when you adopt a pet and bring home a dog.  My dog is part of the family and my greatest fan -- his big face is in the window watching me pull away from the garage when I leave home and it's there again to cheer on my homecoming at the end of the day.

"Belly-Boy" (short for Bellamie, which I'm told is French for "beautiful friend") is my buddy, gives great hugs, and is the cover-dog for this video pictured above .  The breed comes from the Pyrenees Mountain range along the border of France and Spain. Belly-Boy pops up again at the tail end of the 30 second video with my son.  The photos were taken just moments after we adopted this Great Pyrenees puppy. 

You'll see our first Great Pyrenees love, "Champ" (short for "Sir Woolly Britches" -- my husband refused to call out "Sir Woolly Britches!" in public) at the end too.  He keeps watch over the new pup with his boy, "Luke."

Finding and procuring a home of your own, just like finding the perfect pet, is a process that requires a bit of waiting.  Often it involves plans to fulfill dreams of bringing home a 4-legged furry pet.  When you find a house that's "home" for you and you get the keys in your hand . . . finally, you can bring home the dog or cat you've always wanted.  They're waiting to go home too! 

Aa a friend of Adopt-a-Pet and home buyers, I'd like to help you find a home to call your own and a forever home for a dog or cat waiting to be adopted.  Coldwell Banker Real Estate is on a mission to help find forever homes for 20,000 dogs! 

Direct questions to Realtor, Lori Koschnick, independent agent for Coldwell Banker The Real Estate Group Inc.  Coldwell Banker offices are independently owned and operated.

Infor@LoriKoschnick.REALTOR  or  Lori@HomewardBoundPro

Where are Mortgage Interest Rates Heading?

Where are interest rates heading?

    http://goo.gl/zVmMTP

Zero Net Energy Real Estate

Zero Net Energy: Homes consuming only as much energy as they produce by renewable means.

A Hardworking-House Term to Know

Zero Net Energy is a goal for builders; learn what ZNE means for you.

If you have not yet heard the term “zero net energy,” or ZNE, you will soon be hearing it everywhere. Most simply it means that a building consumes only as much energy as it can produce by renewable methods. Since buildings consume about 25 percent of our nation’s energy, the savings and implications of ZNE are enormous. For several years the U.S. Department of Energy has supported innovation in this area by sponsoring the Solar Decathlon. The biannual competition invites contestants to design and build a house that runs primarily on solar power and produces as much electricity as it consumes.

California building codes have already mandated implementation of ZNE by phasing in complete compliance by 2020 for all new homes, and remodels and additions that significantly upgrade a house, constructed in the state. Since California has at least 10 percent of the nation’s population and the ninth largest economy on the planet, its influence in this area is quickly scaling and spreading across North America. However, California codes prioritize renewable energy production last on the list of requirements that can assist with a home’s compliance. Energy consumption reductions and improved building design performance standards and technology are being phased in first.
 
Here are a few things that can be and already are being addressed by innovation to achieve this goal.

Caddis Architecture

Financing the investments. When ZNE applications show a return on investment in a relatively short amount of time, financial entities are keenly interested in supporting them. California has built incentives into its programs to promote them. Yet the savings on energy consumption alone has propelled lending institutions to support them, as they clearly see the payoff. The trend is spreading. The Colorado residence seen here, by Caddis Architecture, was designed to be ZNE. While its progressive and innovative design embraces a contemporary aesthetic in conjunction with achieving ZNE, vernacular home design, as illustrated in the Florida home below, can be adapted to meet this goal just as easily.

Energy Smart Home Plans

Crisp Architects

Reducing consumption. Probably the most obvious energy-saving consideration is doors and windows. In the past the glass-enclosed sunroom seen here, by Crisp Architects, would have been impractical during New York’s winter months. Dual- and triple-paned glass, along with other techniques and advances in window design, allows configurations to reduce energy use. In the Seattle house below, awnings with automated systems that sense rain and shading requirements provide a more passive solution to energy consumption at doors and windows.

Mohler + Ghillino Architects

Divine Design+Build

Regulating consumption. The incandescent bulb is gradually being phased out. First, compact fluorescent lamps took their place, which cut energy usage significantly. Lately, LEDs, or light-emitting diodes, have been cutting energy consumption even more. These compact and long-lasting fixtures not only greatly save energy, but they also allow innovative and dramatic lighting effects to be achieved.

The flush and elegant undercabinet fixtures seen here have been mounted snugly, keeping the crisp, clean lines in this modern kitchen. Dramatic lighting effects define the contemporary bath design below. In addition, LEDs can be designed to change color, adding another dimension.

Brilliant SA

Paragon Kitchens

Managing consumption. If you think all of your home electronics and mobile devices that need electricity are contributing to a larger electric bill, you are correct. Utility companies estimate that about one-third of an average home’s juice is consumed by such equipment.

Most appliances and electronics with power cords plugged in draw some electricity even when their power button is off. One of California’s goals is to require switches on all electrical outlets so that electronics that normally stay plugged in can more easily and conveniently be switched off.

Even if you just can’t live without the soft yellow glow of the incandescent bulb in your favorite lamp, you can save energy by installing a dimmer switch on that light fixture or on a hardwired light switch that controls it. Dimmers can save half or more of the energy of a bulb’s full capacity.

Legrand, North America

Another California requirement is that lights in certain rooms, such as baths and garages, be connected to motion sensors. This helps, for example, to keep the kids in check when they go around the house turning on the light in each room they enter without turning if off when they leave. In addition, depending on the type of room, incandescent fixtures are not allowed to be installed. The state requires that any hardwired fixture be “high efficacy.” This can be types with compact fluorescent bulbs or LEDs.

Greenstar Technologies

Usually on the higher end, there are systems with control panels, like this one, or ones that can be coordinated with a smartphone application. The ability to manage systems throughout the home will allow consumers not only to monitor their own habits, but to coordinate with peak energy demands in their regions. Utility suppliers place a premium on consumption during the hottest days of the year, for example, when demand surges. Being able to use less air conditioning on those days and planning to spend time out of the house can be a strategic method to lower your bills and help the system meet demand where it is needed most.

Norocom Smart Home

In addition, lighting that can respond to daylight, building designs that allow in sufficient daylight to minimize or eliminate the need for artificial lighting, and windows and ventilation that can be automated to respond to desired interior conditions are other features that can help to reduce and manage energy consumption.

Nest

Employing technology. A good example of such technologies is the Nest thermostat, which works with smartphones to assist in the management of a home’s climate. A good example of how Nest can save you energy is to consider a time when you are out of town for business. Let’s say you are in Los Angeles for three days, and a heat wave has enveloped Dallas, where you live. You set the temperature in your house to 82 degrees Fahrenheit while you are away, which keeps your electricity consumption down. When you board the plane in L.A. to return to Dallas, you open the app and set the temperature in your house to 72 degrees. By the time you get home, the temperature in your house will be just right.

Nest

Daedalus Design Build

Daedalus Design Build

One of the best advantages of California’s implementation of energy codes is that the price of photovoltaic technology is falling dramatically. While California will always have abundant sunshine, it is likely that future household mechanical systems will use several technologies in unison to achieve a home’s energy demands and climate control. The urban Philadelphia residence seen here employs geothermal, solar electric and solar thermal systems to provide comfort. The Montana home below uses geothermal and solar systems for a large and sprawling design.

Teton Heritage Builders

Teton Heritage Builders

Solar panels double as shade devices and overhang protection for the doors of this Seattle house. Traditional architecture, as seen below, can include solar panels just as easily. Look for a future in which any house can be retrofitted with a myriad of technologies, as the solutions likely will be fluid and flexible.

Albertsson Hansen Architecture, Ltd

Energy storage. Probably the biggest challenge at this time is energy storage. It is currently difficult to achieve on an individual scale. Our public energy grids are still primarily dependent on power generated by fossil fuels, which can be readily adjusted based on demand. There are already problems with utilities wishing to maintain control of the energy grids and how they will handle the influx of individually generated supplies. Flexibility, on both the individual and public levels, will probably solve all of the challenges. Zero-net-energy homes may sound complex, but imagining zero dollars for electric bills, for at least a couple of months a year, seems simple enough.

Steven Randel, California licensed architect & contributing writer at HOUZZ

Rising mortgage rates are the top concern for homebuyers

 In the current housing market, prices are high, the supply of homes is low and credit is tight. But the number one concern for potential homebuyers is rising mortgage rates, according to a recent online survey by real estate research firm Trulia.

More than 40 percent of people who planned to eventually buy a home said they were worried about rising rates, followed by rising home prices and low inventory. Among those homeowners who were planning to buy a home within the next year, inventory just edged out rising rates, the survey said.

More business news

The 30-year fixed rate touched 4.5 percent last week, according to data from Freddie Mac, and there appears to be no turning back, economists say. If rates rise too fast, they have the potential to hurt the housing recovery by pricing homebuyers out of the market.

More than half of homebuyers also said that they would be discouraged from entering the market if rates reached 6 percent. Rates are still low by historical standards, but people have grown accustomed to them being below 4 percent, said Jed Kolko, chief economist at Trulia.

Mortgage rates have been under the spotlight lately following the Federal Reserve’s statements that it could wind down its stimulus program early if the economy keeps improving. The Fed’s bond-buying program has kept rates artificially low since the housing crash. As Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke testifies this week before Congress, his remarks will be carefully scrutinized to get a sense of the central bank’s policy direction for the rest of the year.

It’s logical for people to be worried about rising rates, Kolko said, but what they should really concentrate on is credit.

“Low mortgage rates don’t do much good if you can’t get a mortgage,” he said.
There are some signs that banks have started to loosen credit standards, Kolko said, but rising mortgage rates may actually help further loosen them. Mortgage credit availability increased in June compared with last year, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.
“Some banks will look to do more home purchase lending as their refinancing business shrinks,” he said.

Homeowners who want to refinance their mortgages — to take advantage of low rates — are immediately affected by rising rates. The number of refinancing applications has fallen to its lowest level in two years over the past few weeks, according to data from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

In the near future, rising rates are more likely to push demand higher, Kolko and other economists say.

Full Story

6 Ways to Sell Your Home This Fall

BOSTON (TheStreet) -- Fall is second only to spring as the busiest time of the year for home sales -- and Idaho Realtor Gail Hartnett sees this autumn as an especially good time to have your property on the market.

"Inventory is low, so if you have your house on the market and is priced well, it's going to sell," says Hartnett, a National Association of Realtors regional vice president and an agent with Keller Williams Realty Boise.

Home sales in Idaho and many other U.S. locales are rebounding this fall as low prices, improved consumer confidence and rock-bottom mortgage rates bring buyers out. At the same time, many would-be sellers are either too discouraged to put homes on the market or are waiting for prices to rise, creating a shortage of available homes in much of the country.

Add in the fact that many people travel to their hometowns for Thanksgiving, football games and the like and Hartnett believes it's a bad idea to keep your property off of the market this fall.
"People who've been thinking of moving back home will look at some houses when they come for a visit, and finding the perfect place will push them into action," she says. "But if your place isn't on the market, they won't see it."

Houses that boast green grass and lush gardens in the spring, though, look a lot less inviting during the fall.

Here are six things Hartnett recommends all would-be sellers do this autumn to adjust for that and get a home moving:

Give your home a cozy smell
Fall brings back childhood memories of hayrides and Thanksgiving dinners for many, and Hartnett recommends maximizing your place's "homey" feeling this time of year.
The Realtor always has spiced cider, fresh-baked cookies or other warm and friendly fare cooking up in during showings and open houses at properties she's listing.

"We take some big old pots and dump cider in them, then warm it up and the whole house smells good," Hartnett says. "It's just a warm, homey smell that makes people feel good when they enter."
She places cider and cookies ready for serving in a strategically out-of-the-way place visitors reach only after touring the house. That way Hartnett has a chance to "pitch" the house to buyers while they snack.

Full story

No Time to Mourn - I love Real Estate & Mondays. What's Your Experience Been?

#1, Must Follow, Rule to Sell Your Home

Buyer's Rep: on the road to closing.

WiRealEstateNow: SELLER I

the Right Home on the Right Terms: WHY & WHEN of Final Walk-Through (inspection) w/WI Buyer's Rep