Of course, even a dry heat needs to be regulated, especially to keep your home comfortable for yourself, your family, and any friends who may be stopping by. There are quite a few ways that you can improve your ability to cool your home in the heat of the summer. Many of these make great weekend projects if you are a do-it-yourself type. If getting your hands dirty isn’t your cup of tea, any handyman can make short work of these without breaking the bank.

Without further ado, let’s tear into the details so that you can get your home ready for summer!

* Think WHITE

– White paint, blinds, roofing tiles, etc. reflect heat away from your home. By adjusting your blinds in east-facing rooms in the morning and west-facing rooms in the afternoon you will help your home’s A/C function more efficiently.

– If you’re getting a new roof, consider white shingles. They look a little strange (most seem to be black/brown) but it will likely make a very noticeable difference in the indoor temps. Be sure to check with your HOA depending on where you live to ensure you’re not getting yourself into trouble down the road.

– Not a white item, but along with roofing, check your attic spaces for suitable insulation. Moving from 3″ to 12″ of attic insulation could cut cooling costs by up to 10%

* Move AIR

– Stagnant hot air is much less tolerable than moving hot air. While most designers seem to hate ceiling fans, they can be a great way to move air and make a room feel 5 to 7 degrees cooler. A power estimate I saw online puts the most power hungry fan, running 12 hours a day, at $10 or less per month for electricity.

– Can’t stand ceiling fans, consider a portable fan (available at any big-box or hardware store) that you can place strategically and remove when no longer needed.

– Summer mode for your ceiling fan should be pushing air downward.

* Don’t Generate HEAT

– Face it, it’s easier to maintain a pleasant indoor temp if you’re not generating an abundance of heat in the first place. Anymore we have so many gadgets and appliances plugged in that generate radiant heat constantly that it makes a serious impact on the temperature of your home, even when off.

– Keep appliances, lamps, or other “hot” items away from your thermostat. These items will convince the HVAC system that it needs to continue cooling due to the inflated temperature near the thermostat and increase wear on the system.

– Keep those lights off, where possible switch to compact fluorescent bulbs as they generate the same amount of light without nearly the heat and consume less energy.

– Try to avoid generating heat in the first place. The biggest culprits are likely going to be your oven and your dryer. Operating these appliances in the mid afternoon, when it’s already hot as the sun in your living room will make it that much harder for your A/C to maintain a comfortable temperature. Where possible, try to do the bulk of your drying in the morning when it’s still cool. Avoiding the oven in the afternoon can be tough, consider warming leftovers in the microwave or focus on salads, sandwiches and anything that won’t require major cooking if it’s really hot. Who wants a hot meal when it’s 100 degrees anyway?

* Landscape, Landscape, Landscape

– Landscaping around your A/C unit to provide shade (without blocking airflow) will help it operate more efficiently.

– Pergolas and trees that shad east-facing windows in the morning and west-facing windows in the afternoon will help to keep the heat outside in the first place. Face it, you’re going to plant things in the yard anyway… you might as well place them so that you get the maximum benefit for your $$.

Depending on how many projects you tackle, you should be able to make at least a small dent in your utility bills and make your home that much more comfortable at the same time. Seriously, there are better things for you to do with your money than sending it to the power company. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

This year is no different, in fact early spring sales got a terrific shot in the arm with home buyers seeing the expiration of their tax credit incentives drawing to a close. The vast majority of home buyers taking advantage of this opportunity were focused on the $110,000 to $180,000 price points and they came out in droves before the end of April (2010) at which time they had to have an executed contract on their property of choice to qualify.

Some agents and analysts lament this activity and appear to anticipate a dramatic drop in activity post tax credit. While this opportunity for buyers did accelerate many first time buyer time lines I do not anticipate closings to plummet. Buyers late to the party will be closing throughout May and June. Individuals and families that are buying up or buying down were less likely to be affected by the tax credit and are more likely to be focused executing their move later this summer. While activity in the entry level housing market (sub $200,000) has probably peaked, sales will continue and likely we’ll see homes at higher price points coming under contract during the summer.

The issue that continues to plague this and every market is the amount of distressed property that must be absorbed. The number of distressed homes for sale, short sales or REO/Bank Owned, outnumber traditional resale and have for months. This continues to put downward pressure on prices. Prices have stabilized considerably but the “fire sale” pricing of short sale and REO homes will likely depress prices for the foreseeable future, at least the next several years.

Why will things continue for the next several years you may be asking… well, the reason is simple. Before the sweeping mortgage reforms, most home buyers opted for 3, 5, or 7 year ARMs meaning that in X number of years the fixed mortgage APR becomes adjustable. Since most homes purchased in the last 5+ years are now underwater these homes will likely wind up as future bank owned or short sale listings. Thankfully, interest rates continue to be at all time lows, realistically there is no way they will stay here for ever. I’m the first to admit that I am no financial guru, but to see rates at 6% or higher in the next 12 months doesn’t seem at all unrealistic. 6% is still a fantastic interest rate, but when buyers become used to 5% there will be a crunch when rates rise.

It will all work itself out. Bottom line is that prices are down, interest rates are fantastic, and the amount of home that your money will buy is downright incredible. While many sellers will not like what the market will support in the sale of their home, if they are buying up the returns (in the form of savings) can far outweigh them.

Currently, or previously as the case may be, vehicles were tested annually at a fee of between $10 and $15 (depending on testing station). Vehicles that did not pass their test were required to be serviced and re-tested in order to maintain their registration. I say this with some certainty, but am unable to say for sure as I can find no information about this on the
emissiontest.org website, and of all the vehicles that I have ever owned, none have ever failed the test. Apparently, maintaining vehicles in good working order appears to do wonders for ensuring that they run with some degree of cleanliness. Unfortunately, I can’t say the same for other drivers here in the greater Boise area. I’m sure that many of you have been stuck behind the old clunker blowing blue smoke out the tailpipe, or the weekend warrior’s version of a monster truck that belches smokes constantly. Choking on fumes in traffic, it was always at least a small (ok, very small) consolation to know that hopefully those vehicles would fail their emissions test and get some service at SOME point. Well, with the new regs on the books, that may not be the case, at least not quite.

From 1984 to present, all vehicles manufactured on or after 1965 were to be tested annually. The new law states that all new vehicles for the first four years will be exempt along with hybrids and cars older than 1981. All vehicles that do require testing (built between ‘81 & 2006) will be tested every other year. Call me crazy, but if you’re going to exempt cars from testing, doesn’t it make more sense to exempt vehicles early in their lives when they’re the most likely to be running well with minimal maintenance? The first 5, 10, 15, or even 20 years make more sense to my keen unscientific mind for a pool of vehicles to be exempted. But everything built before 1981??

Taken from the Ada County Air Quality Board’s own website:

Over half of all vehicular pollution comes from only 10% of the vehicles. By identifying the dirtiest vehicles and getting them fixed the emissions testing program has been able to reduce vehicular pollution by about 18%.

Only time will tell if this shift in testing younger vehicles, every other year will have a negative impact on the air quality. But call me crazy, it doesn’t seem like a brilliant idea to this driver. The other kicker in parting… unless you drive an older vehicle, you won’t even save any money. Annual testing can be had for $10/year, bi-annual testing will be capped at $20 and as testing stations will now no longer test 15 years worth of vehicles and those that are tested only come by every other year, I would expect that it will be much harder to find sweet deals on pricing.

Before we get into the nittygritty of the program, I think it’s important to point out that this program does not, in my opinion, put people into homes that they can’t afford. I believe that some commentators have made this leap in logic to get attention for themselves, their opinions, or their websites despite the fact that there seems to be no merit to the claim. The tax credit is just that… a tax credit. It has no bearing on the buyers qualification in the eyes of the lender or underwriter and is not something that will directly increase their purchasing power. This is not to say that there are not unscrupulous buyers and lenders in the world that continue to try to play the system, but I think trying to blame the tax credit is a joke. What the tax credit DOES do is pull FIRST TIME buyers (and now existing home owners) into the market and off the fence. If you’re sitting on the couch thinking you should probably consider buying a house sometime in the next year or so, this credit has proven to be a strong incentive to get people moving forward and off the sidelines.

Now, let’s get into the heart of what happened today. As of yesterday the House and Senate had sent the bill to extend jobless benefits (which includes the home buyer tax credit) up to the White House. Earlier today, President Obama signed the bill into law. The tax credit measures within this bill, now law, extend the credit through April 30, 2010. Qualifying purchases must occur on or after January 1, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010. One new caveat is that in cases where a binding sales contract is signed by April 30, 2010, and the home purchase is completed prior to June 30, 2010 will also qualify. Raise your hand if you think that last part might get ugly… Of course there are income limits. Previously these were $75,000 for single taxpayers and $150,000 for those married filing jointly. For sales occuring after November 6, 2009 those limits have been raised to $125,000 and $225,000 respectively. One item that has not changed, the $8000 tax credit is reserved for first time home buyers.

The ray of sunshine for existing home owners that want to/need to make a move is that an expansion of the tax credit has been created just for them. A $6500 tax credit will be available for existing home owners purchasing a principal residence after November 6, 2009 and on or before April 30, 2010, or purchased by June 30, 2010 with a binding sales contract signed by April 30, 2010. (The more I type that last part the uglier it gets). You qualify if you have owned and resided in a home for at least five consecutive years of the eight years prior to your purchase date. The income limits are the same as above, $125,000 for single tax payers, $225,000 for those married filing jointly.

In both instances, the tax credit amount is calculated to be 10% of the purchase price up to $8000 or $6500 respectively. Depending on your market… it’s probably going to be hard to get anything less than the max. Not many homes available in the Treasure Valley in the sub $80,000 price point. The tax credit continues to be “refundable” as in even if the tax payer has no federal tax liability they can claim the credit and will receive a check for the rebate. For complete details check out the Federal Housing Tax Credit official website.

Hopefully the expansion of the tax credit will continue to improve market activity for homes in higher price points, typically outside the buying power of many first time buyers. So, if you are considering up-sizing, downsizing, first time buying or anything in between give me a call and let’s get the process started. April 30 will be here before you know it. Don’t wait to the last minute and miss out on a golden opportunity!

This can be hard to comprehend unless we assign some values to the narrative, really get our hands dirty. Ok, not too dirty, I know I don’t like to play with math on a Friday afternoon so we’ll keep it simple. Let’s say that you are looking at a home and you will be borrowing $150,000. We’ll say that your annual property tax bill on a home at this price will be $1,500/yr and that your home owners insurance will be $300/yr. We’ll say these are fixed costs for our example. Now let’s take a look at what your payment will be at 5.4% and 6.25%.

At 5.4% APR: Principal & Interest Payment is $842.29/mo, Insurance is $25/mo, Taxes are $125/mo. Your total payment PITI comes in at $992.29

At 6.25% APR: Principal & Interest Payment is 923.57/mo, Insurance is $25/mo, Taxes are $125/mo. Your total payment (PITI) comes in at $1073.57.

Clearly this is not the end of the world, but if your monthly mortgage payment can not exceed $1000 and remain affordable, you’re no longer going to be able to shop for $150,000 homes when rates go up. Almost an extra hundred dollars per month, every month for the life of your 30 year loan. Now, to buy a home and keep your payment below that thousand dollar threshold you have just seen the max loan amount available drop to approximately $138,000. Twelve thousand dollars just evaporated from your home buying budget in this scenario; the only thing that changed was a modest increase in the interest rate. Also, not the end of the world, unless of course you can’t find any homes that meet your criteria at this price range.

One can never know exactly what the future holds. While I frequently wish that my crystal ball wasn’t broken, I do know that if you need to make a move and can afford to buy a home, it’s a fantastic time to be a buyer. Will it be a fantastic time to be a buyer next year? Probably. But the unknown of what the interest rates will be doing and whether or not the FTHB tax credit will be extended could absolutely have a serious, and likely negative impact, on the kind of home that you can buy. While it’s probably to late to be considering a short sale purchase and expect to be closed by November 30, 2009 there is absolutely still time enough to start the hunt on a more traditional purchase. Rates are good, inventory is there and more and more homes are priced appropriately, if not quite aggressively to really stand out amongst the sea of short sale, foreclosed property still out there.

If you would like to get more information, see a list of potential candidates here in the greater Boise area, or talk about your home buying options please give me a call. You can reach me directly anytime at 208-991-HOME (4663). You can also enter your information in the phone link (top right of every page) and be connected to me in no time. If you’ve found your way here, but Idaho isn’t your destination of choice, feel free to call or email anyway and I will be more than happy to go to work for you (at no charge of course) interviewing agents anywhere in the country you’re moving to in order to find the right agent for you. I have had outstanding results putting my friends, family, and past clients in touch with agents in their soon to be new community that will work just as hard for them as I would.

While 80+ days sounds like a long time, keep in mind if you’re not in the process at all yet you need to sit down with a lender and get pre-approved. You need to find a good agent that will guide you through the process, representing your best interests, find the perfect house and then navigate the escrow process. A typical escrow (in our market) is about 30 days. This absolutely does NOT include short sales. If you don’t have a short sale in contract at this point and the tax credit is important to you, you’ve probably already missed that boat. Many banks (not all) have expedited things considerably over last year, but it can still be 60+ days for an approval and THEN you open escrow.

While the $8000 tax credit certainly isn’t a deal breaker… I find that most people think the idea of getting $8000 vs not is pretty cut and dry. If buying your first home is on your list of things to do, now is the time to get into the game. Interest rates are still fantastic, prices are still down, and there are still some fantastic gems to be found. Granted, they are moving quickly, especially in the sub $200,000 price range. If you’re ready to make the dream of home ownership a reality, I’m ready to get to work for you to make that happen. Call or email me today!

Ben
208-991-HOME (4663)
ben[at]IdahoRealEstate.com

For those of you considering a move to the Treasure Valley, at least into the Boise or Meridian school districts, I have something that will help. Parents interested in reviewing the boundary maps for the Meridian School District can do so here. The Boise school district has a handy dandy mapping utility you can use to determine elementary, middle, or high school for a particular home. Get started on your Boise School search here.

Don’t let this bog you down, if you need help planning your move and schools are a concern (or even if they are not), give me a call and I will be happy to get right to work. I will take over the coordination of your move to ensure that it goes of as smoothly as possible!

This is in fact true, but what qualify for by doing x, y, or z improvements does vary depending on where you’re located. If you are considering improvements keep in mind the tax incentives are only part of the equation. Switching to high efficient windows, appliances (fridge, washer, dryer, water heater, etc) or the like will not only have positive tax consequences but you can almost certainly expect to see a reduction on your utility bills immediately that will also continue to save money over the long term. Programs range from personal deductions, private grants, tax exemptions, sales tax refunds, utility loan programs and rebates.

Check out the specifics at the DSIRE website. For the Idaho specific info go HERE.

While Boise has not escaped unscathed in these trying economic times, it has fared better than many. Jobs and housing will be key to any recovery and despite recent layoffs at several large employers in the Treasure Valley we continue to attract new business (both large and small) to further diversify and expand our economic base. The high quality of life and affordable cost of living continue to draw individuals, families, and investors from around the country to the city of trees.

While the stimulus provides this credit to first time buyers (or those that have not owned a home for the past 3 years) the $8,000 previously could only be collected after the close of escrow by filing an amended 2008 return or waiting to claim the credit in 2010 on the buyers 2009 tax return.

I expect this to make a great thing even better as many first time home buyers find it difficult to come up with thousands of dollars in closing costs along with a down payment. For additional information regarding this new program consult your preferred lender. You can read the full article about this new program here.