It looks like we’ll have another nice weekend, a great opportunity to get the yard picked up and planter boxes ready, but don’t forget to give your house a checkup. Print this list out, add and delete specific items to personalize to your home.
Spring Home Maintenance Checklist
Safety Equipment: Ensure that all smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers are in good working order. Replace batteries in appropriate devices as needed, or at least twice each year.
Exterior
Roof: Check roof and around vents, skylights and chimneys for leaks. Check for loose, damaged or missing roofing. Repair as necessary. Remove any debris.
Foundation Vents – Open foundation vents when nighttime temperatures get above freezing.
Gutters: Clean gutters and drain pipes and be sure they drain away from the house. Look for signs of winter damage.
Garage Door – Lubricate hardware. Inspect mechanism for free travel.
Exterior Siding– Inspect siding for sagging or damaged panels that may need replacing. Inspect wood soffits and fascia for signs of rotting or pests.
Paint – The life of exterior paint can be prolonged with annual touch-ups. Repaint any patches that are peeling before the wood deteriorates. Trim shrubs and plants back at least 18 inches from the house, as they can cause moisture damage
Exterior Faucets: Check your hoses for holes, leaks and dry rot. Replace if necessary. Inspect the faucets and call a plumber if you have leaks or other winter damage.
Sprinkler System: If necessary, call your landscaper to turn your system back on. Inspect and clean any filters, heads and drip system emitters.
Lawnmowers and Other Power Equipment: If you have a lawnmower, leaf blower, or other power equipment that has been sitting in the garage or shed all winter, now is a good time to clean it, service it and make sure it is working properly.
Interior
Storm Windows and Screens: Take down storm windows and replace with screens. Check and patch all door and window screens.
Windows and Doors: Inspect all windows for tight seals and air leakage; caulk or apply weather stripping if necessary. Inspect all doors for tight seals and air leakage; apply weather stripping or door guards if necessary.
Interior Faucets:Check for leaky faucets in kitchen and bathrooms. Replace washers as necessary. Check the water hoses on the clothes washer, refrigerator icemaker and dishwasher for cracks and bubbles.
Heating and Cooling
Ceiling Fans: Clean the blades and reverse the flow.
Fireplace: Clean fireplace of ashes. Check chimney for loose or missing mortar. Have chimney professionally cleaned. Make sure damper closes tightly.
Ductwork: Spring is a good time to schedule an Air Duct Cleaning so that your HVAC system will work efficiently, improving your home’s Indoor Air Quality
Filters: Remember to clean or replace filters once a month, or as needed. Check and clean dryer vent, air conditioner, stove hood and room fans. Keep heating and cooling vents clean and free from furniture and draperies.
Air Conditioning: If you have a window unit clean the filters and coils. If you have a central AC (lucky you!) call a professional to have it inspected and serviced.
When going on vacation or leaving the house vacant, shut off the water and turn the hot water heater to vacation mode.
I know many parents are concerned about the chemicals and hormones in the food, baby bottles and other products we give our children, opting for as many organic products we can afford, but how often do you think about the indoor air quality of your home?
The EPA estimates that people spend 90% of their time indoors, but that indoor air quality can be 2 to 5 times more polluted than outdoor air. That differential is probably even greater for those of us that live in North Idaho and other rural areas. We don’t have the traffic and associated smog, but we do have long, cold, dark winters in homes often heated with wood stoves. And be honest – do you warm up your car near your home’s windows, or even worse, inside your garage?
Sources of Formaldehyde in your home
There are many products in your home that produce offgassing, the release of chemicals into the air through evaporation, which can continue for years, such as cleansers, paints, stains, varnishes, carpet, insulation, flooring, cabinets and paint strippers.
Last summer the National Toxicology Program listed formaldehyde as a known carcinogen. A colorless glass with a strong odor, formaldehyde can cause irritated eyes, nose and respiratory problems, particularly in asthmatics and others with sensitivity to chemicals. Urea formaldehyde based resins are used as a binder in the manufacturing process of many wood products, such as plywood and particleboard, often used during the construction of a home and in the items we put inside our home, like some cabinets and furniture. It is also present in many disinfectants, antiseptics and tobacco.
A byproduct of the green building movement is that there are many urea-formaldehyde free options that weren’t previously readily available: plywood, cabinets, insulation, paints. There is even a movement to label products with chemical levels, similar to nutritional facts on food.
You can take many steps to improve the air quality in your home: don’t allow smoking indoors, idle your car outside away from windows, store toxic items in your garage (preferably detached), use low or no VOC paints, consider keeping your pets outdoors, eliminate unnecessary dampness that can lead to mold and mildew, use a HEPA vacuum, buy and use fragrance-free products in their non-aerosol form, etc.
It is unrealistic to think we can control everything in our home and omit anything harmful from entering our home, which is why proper ventilation is most important. In addition to venting your wood stove, kitchen stove and bathrooms, you may want to consider a Heat Recovery Ventilator. An HRV unit is a very efficient way to continuously exchange the air inside your home while minimizing heat loss. It can recover up to 85% of the heat in outgoing air to pre-heat pre-filtered incoming air, without the two streams ever touching. Leaky windows used to provide fresh air, but with the increasing focus on “Build Tight, Ventilate Right” in the construction industry, the use of a controlled air-exchange unit is vital in new construction.
House plants are great natural air filters.
A great, cheap, healthy way to improve the air quality in your home: use more house plants – they are natural air filters. Golden Pothos, Aloe Vera and Spider plants battle formaldehyde and benzene, and add beauty to any room.
“Green” has become a fuzzy word with different connotations to different people. It permeates advertising in nearly every market, from luxury cars to toy cars, with varying degrees of legitimacy to the audience. As consumers, we’ve become skeptical of the word and anyone trying to sell it to us. When I first mentioned green home building courses to Scott, he was cynical about the prospect. He thought they would tell him he would have to change everything about his way of building, from methods to materials. On the contrary, he walked away from his first day of class energized with the understanding that Green Building was applying a whole-house approach to constructing a better home: better for the environment and better for the home owners.
The benefits of a certified green home are numerous and not all are important to all homeowners. Some are interested in helping protect the environment by using recycled or renewable materials. Mothers I’ve spoken with are concerned about formaldehyde, Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and the air their children breathe inside the home. Many in this economy are interested in high-performing homes and saving money on electricity, water and sewer bills. Others want a home that requires less maintenance.
Although there are hundreds of different “Green” home certification programs across the country, most of them meet the concerns mentioned above and conform to a handful of central elements: resource conservation, water conservation, energy efficiency, indoor air quality, site planning and homeowner education. The programs require homes to meet specific criteria in each of these areas, a whole house approach, before receiving certification. Most have some sort of checklist and must be inspected by an independent verifier before it can earn certification. Local Programs include the National Association of Home Builders Green Building Standard and US Green Building Council LEED. There are also programs that deal specifically with energy efficiency and conservation such as Northwest EnergyStar and the US Department of Energy Builders Challenge.
In my opinion, the third-party verification process is crucial: it validates the “Green” claim. The Verifier provides independent oversight of construction and verifies the various Green practices necessary to earn certification have been implemented. This is a great resource in Bonner County due to the fact that there isn’t a building department in the County (there is one in the City of Sandpoint) and no County building inspectors to verify that a home is built to at least the minimum standards established by the Uniform Building Code and the International Energy Conservation Code. It also discourages builders from claiming their home is Green just because it has Energy Star appliances and a bamboo floor.
The certification programs I’m familiar with also require builders become certified by the program prior to building a certified home. The courses typically center on advanced building science and the interconnectedness of the systems inside a home. A common theme is: “Build tight, ventilate right”. For example, a high-performing building envelope (an air-tight home) will affect moisture management, indoor air quality and the necessary heating system. A builder must understand how each feature influences the others and construct the home accordingly to ensure the home is working properly and that its occupants remain healthy.
The importance of Green to home buyers has also changed the core of the construction industry. At both industry conferences I attended this year green products dominated the exhibit floor. Brochures touted recycled content percentages and points achieved in the various certification programs. If a product required a resin, more than likely that resin is urea formaldehyde free. Window manufacturers are also noticing, modifying their construction materials and targeting various certification programs for endorsements.
Which brings me to this parting thought: every new home buyer doesn’t have to be concerned about how Green their new home is. There are enough home buyers, builders, code enforcers and public agencies that are thinking about it that the benefits will trickle down and many features will be incorporated by default. Really, does any builder not put EnergyStar appliances in their home?
Although it is only September, Fall is upon us and inevitably Winter will arrive before we are ready for it. I don’t know about you, but I’m a nut about lists and reminders. Here is a Winter Home Maintenance Checklist for those of us that live in cold climates. Print it out, add and delete specific items to personalize the list to your home. Look for a post next week: Maintenance Checklist for Energy Savings.
Winter Home Maintenance Checklist
Roof: Check roof and around vents, skylights and chimneys for leaks. Check for loose, damaged or missing roofing. Repair as necessary.
Attic: If there is no ridge vent, keep gable vents open year-round to ensure proper ventilation. Check for missing and damaged insulation.
Garage Door – Lubricate hardware. Inspect mechanism for free travel.
Foundation Vents – Close foundation vents if temperatures drop into the 20’s or lower. Use foam blocks for extra protection.
Gutters: Clean gutters and drain pipes so leaves won’t clog them and be sure they drain away from the house. Look for signs of damage
Exterior Faucets: Disconnect and drain hoses.
Sprinkler System: Shut off in-ground sprinklers and have the system blown out to purge system of water.
Fireplace: Clean fireplace of ashes. Check chimney for loose or missing mortar. Have chimney professionally cleaned. Make sure damper closes tightly.
Filters: Remember to clean or replace filters once a month, or as needed. Check and clean dryer vent, air conditioner, stove hood and room fans. Keep heating and cooling vents clean and free from furniture and draperies.
Plumbing: Insulate water lines that are subject to freezing. To safely thaw frozen pipes use a hair dryer, heat lamp or electric heater. Do not use an open flame or electric arc welder. If pipes are broken or split, shut off the water and the water main, the water heater and water heater circuit breaker.
Safety Equipment: Ensure that all smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers are in good working order. Replace batteries in appropriate devices as needed, or at least twice each year.
Air Conditioner: Remove and winterize window air-conditioners, or put weatherproof covers on them.
Interior Faucets: Check for leaky faucets in kitchen and bathrooms. Replace washers as necessary. Check the water hoses on the clothes washer, refrigerator icemaker and dishwasher for cracks and bubbles.
Windows and Doors: Inspect all windows for tight seals and air leakage; caulk or apply weather stripping if necessary. Inspect all doors for tight seals and air leakage; apply weather stripping or door guards if necessary.
Storm Windows and Screens: Take down screens (if removable type) and replace with storm windows. Check and patch all door and window screens.
Siding and Paint: During cold temperatures and heavy snow, check for ice damning against siding at roof lines. Remove excessive build up to prevent melting moisture from wicking into the house. Check for proper drainage away from house. Look for cracks and holes in house siding or paint. Seal any cracks or gaps. Replace caulk if necessary.
Basement: Check basement walls and floor for dampness. Be sure to clean dehumidifier regularly, if you have one.
Heating System: Have heating system serviced. Change filters.
Clean ceiling fan blades and reverse the air flow direction.
Test and start humidifier.
Test all ground-fault-circuit-interrupter (GFCI) outlets
Do not use chemical ice melts on new concrete/pavement/asphalt for at least one year. Sand is a great substitute.
Store emergency sand, ice scraper and a shovel in each vehicle.
Stock up on canned food, bottled water, and candles for emergencies.
When going on vacation or leaving the house vacant, shut off the water and turn the hot water heater to vacation mode.
I had intended to post the Spring Home Maintenance Checklist in early April, but seeing that we have the same cold, rainy weather that we did a month ago I don’t think my procrastination will do much damage. Print it out, add and delete specific items to personalize the list to your home.
Spring Home Maintenance Checklist
Safety Equipment: Ensure that all smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors and fire extinguishers are in good working order. Replace batteries in appropriate devices as needed, or at least twice each year.
Exterior
Roof: Check roof and around vents, skylights and chimneys for leaks. Check for loose, damaged or missing roofing. Repair as necessary. Remove any debris.
Foundation Vents – Open foundation vents when nighttime temperatures get above freezing.
Gutters: Clean gutters and drain pipes and be sure they drain away from the house. Look for signs of winter damage.
Garage Door – Lubricate hardware. Inspect mechanism for free travel.
Exterior Siding– Inspect siding for sagging or damaged panels that may need replacing. Inspect wood soffits and fascia for signs of rotting or pests.
Paint – The life of exterior paint can be prolonged with annual touch-ups. Repaint any patches that are peeling before the wood deteriorates. Trim shrubs and plants back at least 18 inches from the house, as they can cause moisture damage
Exterior Faucets: Check your hoses for holes, leaks and dry rot. Replace if necessary. Inspect the faucets and call a plumber if you have leaks or other winter damage.
Sprinkler System: If necessary, call your landscaper to turn your system back on. Inspect and clean any filters, heads and drip system emitters.
Lawnmowers and Other Power Equipment: If you have a lawnmower, leaf blower, or other power equipment that has been sitting in the garage or shed all winter, now is a good time to clean it, service it and make sure it is working properly.
Interior
Storm Windows and Screens: Take down storm windows and replace with screens. Check and patch all door and window screens.
Windows and Doors: Inspect all windows for tight seals and air leakage; caulk or apply weather stripping if necessary. Inspect all doors for tight seals and air leakage; apply weather stripping or door guards if necessary.
Interior Faucets:Check for leaky faucets in kitchen and bathrooms. Replace washers as necessary. Check the water hoses on the clothes washer, refrigerator icemaker and dishwasher for cracks and bubbles.
Heating and Cooling
Ceiling Fans: Clean the blades and reverse the flow.
Fireplace: Clean fireplace of ashes. Check chimney for loose or missing mortar. Have chimney professionally cleaned. Make sure damper closes tightly.
Ductwork: Spring is a good time to schedule an Air Duct Cleaning so that your HVAC system will work efficiently, improving your home’s Indoor Air Quality
Filters: Remember to clean or replace filters once a month, or as needed. Check and clean dryer vent, air conditioner, stove hood and room fans. Keep heating and cooling vents clean and free from furniture and draperies.
Air Conditioning: If you have a window unit clean the filters and coils. If you have a central AC (lucky you!) call a professional to have it inspected and serviced.
When going on vacation or leaving the house vacant, shut off the water and turn the hot water heater to vacation mode.
Disclaimer: I’m not an economist, that’s why I included links, but I find this all fascinating, and a bit scary.
A few weeks ago I listened to an NPR’s Planet Money podcast about the Frankenstein Mortgage. The term described the lily-white 30 year fixed mortgage that we all believe to be the safest bet for a home loan. On the podcast Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera (authors of All the Devils Are Here, a book on the financial crisis) detail the history of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the emergance of the 30 year fixed.
What I learned from the podcast and McLean’s New York Time’s op-ed piece is that without the federal goverments implicit guarantee of the 30 year fixed mortgage (through Fannie and Freddie) it would probably only exist for those with great credit and more money to put down.
Banks and private mortage investors see two major risks associated with the 30 year fixed – credit risk and market risk. 30 years is a long time and homeowners can lose their jobs, get sick, have sick children, etc. And, as we’ve seen in recent years, the market can tank. The creation of Fannie during the Depression, and later Freddie in 1970, tempered that risk by allowing banks to sell their loans to Fannie and Freddie, freeing up money to fund more loans, and reducing long-term risk. Although both are privately held companies, it was understood that the Federal Government guaranteed Fannie and Freddie loans, thus making them more attractive to investors. Banks charge a higher interest rate for “in-house” loans because they lack the federal guarantee. Investors want a higher payback for non-guaranteed loans. Thanks to the financial crisis we, via the US goverment, now own Fannie and Freddie and all of their loans. Now the Feds want to reduce their hold on housing.
This past Friday the White House outlined 3 options to phase out Federal support of the mortgage market. I’m not going to go into detail, but the Wall Street Journal did a great job in an article on Saturday.
What makes me nervous is a quote from McLean’s NYT op-ed piece. “Today, credit risk is anathema, and by shouldering it, Fannie and Freddie are propping up the housing market. The banks that make the mortgages don’t want credit risk, and neither do investors. Indeed, William Gross, the co-founder and managing director of the investment firm Pimco, has said his funds wouldn’t buy pools of so-called private label mortgages — those lacking a government guarantee — unless the homeowners involved had made a down payment of at least 30 percent.” She later quotes “Mr. Gross says that mortgages without a government guarantee would cost at least several percentage points more.”
Isn’t underwriting tight as it is?
The housing market and broader economy are still shakey and the Journal’s article speculates that any major change will be made over the next five to seven years, but everything I’ve read shows bipartisan support for ejecting taxpayer dollars from the mortgage market. I can’t say I disagree, but wonder what the broader implications are for real estate and construction.
What I do understand is that now is the time to buy (if you are in the market) and I really hoping that refi I’m applying for is approved.
All the flooding around the Bonner Mall got me thinking about porous asphalt and permeable pavers. With all of the precipitation we get there’s got to be a better way to manage stormwater and the pollution carried in rainwater runoff (air pollution particles, spilled oil, detergents, solvents, de-icing salts during freezing conditions , dead leaves, pesticides, fertilizer, and bacteria from pet waste, just to name a few).
Although Bonner County does not have a Building Department or building inspectors it does have extensive land use regulations, including impervious surface regulations for shoreline properties. All waterfront properties greater than one acre may have no more than 15% impervious surface. Smaller parcels, depending on size, may have 25% or 35%. If all structures on a property are no closer than 75 feet from the shoreline, these ratios can be increase by 50%, but what waterfront property doesn’t have a waterfront deck or dock? According to Bonner County Code impervious surfaces include “… rooftops, walkways, patios, driveways, parking lots, concrete or asphalt paving, gravel roads, packed earthen materials and oiled, macadam or other surfaces which impede the natural infiltration of stormwater.”
A project we did in Cocolalla got us researching porous asphalt and permeable pavement and pavers. The general idea is to use the natural filtration of water through soil to control contaminants before they reach our waterways. There are so many options and materials for driveways, parking area, walkways, decks and patios. Below is an easy to read summary that I found, much clearer than one I could create.
Porous Asphalt: A great advantage to porous asphalt is that the same mixing and application equipment is used as for impervious asphalt. Only the formula for the paving material changes with porous bituminous pavement. Bituminous permeable paving is appropriate for pedestrian-only areas and for very low-volume, low-speed areas such as overflow parking areas, residential driveways, alleys, and parking stalls.Permeable paving is not ideal for high traffic/high speed areas because it has lower load-bearing capacity than conventional pavement.
Porous Concrete: Again, the same equipment may be used as for standard concrete. Larger pea gravel and a lower water-to-cement ratio is used to achieve a pebbled, open surface that is roller compacted.
Plastic Grid Systems: High strength plastic grids (often made from recycled materials) are placed in roadway areas. Some are designed to be filled with gravel on top of an engineered aggregate material, while others are filled with a sand/soil mixture on top of an aggregate/topsoil mix that allow grass to be planted on the surface. The grids provide a support structure for heavy vehicles, and prevent erosion. After heavy rains, the grids act as mini holding-ponds, and allow water to gradually absorb into the soil below.
Block Pavers: This material can be used to create a porous surface with the aesthetic appeal of brick, stone, or other interlocking paving materials. They are most often used for driveways, entryways, walkways, or terraces to achieve a more traditional, formal appearance.
Did you miss out on the Federal Residential Energy Efficiency Tax Credits? You’re in luck. The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (what a mouthful) included an amended extension of the Tax Credit.
The legislation extends the 25C heating and cooling equipment and building envelope tax incentives for another year but at reduced levels. The new bill extends eligibility to the end of 2011, but reduces the incentive to the original 10% up to $500. Included are provisions which:
limit window incentives to $200;
limit oil and gas furnace and boiler incentives to $150, plus an additional $50 for efficient furnace fans;
limit water heater and wood heating system incentives to $300;
loosen the qualification for window incentives (ENERGY STAR windows now qualify);
and tighten the specifications for oil furnaces and boilers and gas boilers to 95% efficiency, up from the 90% efficiency in current law.
If you have already received this tax credit for 2006-2010 in an amount greater than $500 you are not eligible.
The credit for geothermal heat pumps, wind turbines and solar energy systems is unchanged. That credit is 30% of cost with no upper limit and is effective through December 31, 2016.
I want to thank Cameron Rasmusson of the Bonner County Daily Bee for his great profile of Selle Valley Construction, Inc. and our Cottages at Cedar Green project. The article does a wonderful job conveying what we are trying to accomplish by building energy efficient certified homes. I only wish I were so eloquent. Click Selle Valley Construction Builds Smart, Green to read the article.
If you ever read builder blogs and websites you are familiar with the problems Green Builders, and any builder exceeding Code, are having with accurate appraisals. Typically, appraisers use the Multiple Listing Service to find comparable homes and sales. The problem lies in the fact that most MLS do not have options for “green”, or high performance, homes, such as solar panels, certifications, blown insulation, tankless water heaters, heat pumps, geothermal, etc. In addition, most of the homes that have high-performance green features are built as customs, and these sales are excluded from the MLS.
The result is appraisers using inefficient comps when appraising new homes. Even if homes are not certified “Green” by any of the certification programs, most new homes incorporate improved building science and products and many new codes require the efficiency gained by those techniques. Instead of taking into account and valuing the newest building science technology, most appraisers punish builders and homeowners by ignoring their benefits. All appraisers I’ve spoken with are not even familiar with Marshall & Swift’s guide valuing green features.
In October the Federal Reserve issued an interim rule to address the appraisal problem, allowing builders to ask appraisers to consider additional information about a property. From all of the information I have been able to find about the interim rule, it doesn’t seem clear what “additional information” is, but the NAHB and other stakeholders will work with the Federal Reserve to clarify the rule. The Federal Reserve unveiled the interim rule on Oct. 18 and the rule will take effect 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register, with the Fed accepting comments on the interim rule during this period. Compliance is voluntary until April 1, 2011. The Fed’s action was required by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which was signed into law on July 21, 2010.
“Many appraisers do not understand the impact of new code requirements, new green building practices and other aspects of new construction that add value to a home,” said Joe Robson, NAHB’s Immediate Past Chairman and a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “It is particularly important that home builders be allowed to provide appraisers with information to assist in appraising new construction.”
The 2009 IECC is currently being implemented by most public agencies and requires many energy efficiency updates. The 2012 IECC is even more strict and is estimated to result in a 30% more efficient home. There is no code enforcement outside of the City of Sandpoint so a home built to or above code is being compared to a home that may not even pass inspection inside City limits.
I hope the Federal Reserve’s law allows builders to provide appraisers with additional information such as: studies showing certified homes are more efficient than code homes, that when the additional cost to build a green home is apportioned over the life of the mortgage, the increased energy efficiency and decreased energy bills create positive cash flow for the homeowner, to include HERS ratings and blower door test results. If not, what incentive does a builder have to build a better home (besides sleeping at night)?
After months of waiting we finally got the HERS rating for the Cottage: 61!
(UPDATE: The final score came in at 57!)
The HERS rating is similar to the EnergyGuide labels you see when appliance shopping. You know the yellow lables with “uses the most energy” on one end and “uses the least energy” on the other end, with a black arrow somewhere in between showing how that particular model measures up to it’s competitors. Typically, the cheap models hover around the “most energy” end.
We now have a quantifiable number that measures the cottages energy efficiency, not just our word that it is efficient. Below is the definition of HERS from www.resnet.us:
What the HERS yardstick looks like.
The HERS Index is a scoring system established by the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) in which a home built to the specifications of the HERS Reference Home (based on the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code) scores a HERS Index of 100, while a net zero energy home scores a HERS Index of 0. The lower a home’s HERS Index, the more energy efficient it is in comparison to the HERS Reference Home.
Each 1-point decrease in the HERS Index corresponds to a 1% reduction in energy consumption compared to the HERS Reference Home. Thus a home with a HERS Index of 85 is 15% more energy efficient than the HERS Reference Home and a home with a HERS Index of 80 is 20% more energy efficient.
Thus, the Cottage with a HERS score of 61 is 39% more efficient than the reference home. According to the Department of Energy’s E-Scale the home will save approximately $718 per year in energy costs compared to a home built to standard code.
To obtain a HERS rating a home must be inspected by a certified RESNET home energy rater. The rater inspects the home and measures its energy characteristics, such as insulation levels, window efficiency, wall-to-window ratios, the heating and cooling system efficiency, and the solar orientation of the home. Performance tests, such as a blower door test, may also be used to measure air leakage. The process is similar to an energy audit and can help identify improvements you can make to increase the comfort of your home. It can also be used as a selling tool if you have your home on the market.
Homeownership has had a tough go the past few years. Recently, Time magazine had a cover story titled “Rethinking Homeownership”, detailing why homeownership may no longer make sense. It all seems so shortsighted to me. The Wall Street Journal agreed and counter-argued with their story: “10 Reasons to Buy a Home”, summarized below:
You Can Get a Good Deal: This is a buyers market and prices have dropped significantly.
Mortgages are Cheap: How does a 30 year fixed for 4.25% sound to you? With that current rate, the monthly mortgage payment for a $200,000 loan is about $985, not including taxes and insurance. You’ll probably pay more in rent, and you can’t deduct rent.
You’ll Save on Taxes: You get to deduct mortgage interest and property taxes from your income tax. Using the $200,000 sample above, that’s about $8,400 in interest the first year, plus your property taxes, so somewhere in the neighborhood of $9,000 the first few years. If you make $40,000 that will drop you from the 25% to the 15% tax bracket, saving you around another $3,000 in taxes.
It’ll be Yours: Make any changes you want, paint the walls red, upgrade your insulation and receive the tax credits and rebates.
You’ll Get a Better Home: Rentals aren’t always cared for as well as an owner-occupied home. Can’t you always tell a rental neighborhood?
It Offers Some Inflation Protection: Studies show that over the long term homes tend to beat inflation by a couple of percentage points a year.
It’s Risk Capital: Equity in your home is a way to link part of your portfolio to the long-term growth of the economy.
It’s Forced Savings: By paying your mortgage you are building equity. Using the $200,000 sample again, you are putting about $280, the principal portion of your mortgage payment, away a month into savings.
There is a Lot to Choose From: Estimates say it will take about 18-24 months for market inventory to get in line with demand. In the meantime, it means prospective buyers have a lo of homes t to choose from.
Sooner or Later the Market will Clear: Population will grow, demand will grow and the market will stabilize.
With a home on the market, my argument is a bit biased, but it is the same argument that was made to me when I was 25 and had the opportunity to buy my first home. At that time, I was able to buy a cute 2 bedroom townhouse with a monthly mortgage payment of $1,400. That may sound like a lot, but at the time I lived in an area where the same townhouse rented for $1,500. I was $100 ahead per month, but I was able to deduct about $1,100 per month in mortgage interest, and I was building equity. Although I sold my home for a profit, even if I had only sold it for the purchase price, I would have still been financially ahead each month.
As many know, when applying for a home mortgage underwriting examines your tax returns, pay stubs, credit scores and bank statements. An appraisal is required to ensure that the home’s value is equal to or above the purchase price. That appraisal minimally inspects the home, mostly relying on square footage, lot size, year built and general fixture quality. It does not consider the R-value of the insulation, heating system efficiency, the building envelope or the home’s general efficiency. Basically, it doesn’t take into consideration how much the home is going to cost you to operate and maintain.
The Sensible Accounting to Value Energy (SAVE) Act is a new proposal, championed by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), and backed by energy efficiency advocates and leading US homebuilders. The Act would require federal loan agencies to adjust underwriting guidelines to asses the home’s expected energy costs during underwriting. Current guidelines include many factors into your debt to income ratio, such as credit cards, auto loans, homeowners insurance and property taxes. Utility bills are not address and can account for a large portion of your monthly budget and are variable based on your home’s efficiency.
Average US Homeowner Costs 07-08 According to the Institute for Market Transformation, www.imt.org/SAVE-Act
According to the Institute for Market Transformation, the average US homowner spends more on energy bills than property taxes and homeowners insurance, two expenses routinely underwritten in a mortgage loan. In the Sandpoint area we have heard of winter Avista bills that range from $200 to $700 per month. On a day like today when the temperature is 5°F, one doesn’t have the choice but to crank the heat.
Homes that have HERS ratings, energy audits or are certified by a green building program can demonstrate their energy efficiency in a quantifiable manner. Currently, some lenders, including Fannie Mae, offer energy efficient mortgages that reward “certified” homes with a 5% increase in the buyer’s qualified loan amount. For instance: if a buyer only qualifies for a $200,000 mortgage, but the home has been certified by the NAHB or LEED, the buyer’s approved loan amount increases to $210,000.
This program would account for energy efficiency in appraisals, encourage builders to build energy efficient homes, and it may also encourage homeowners to retrofit their existing homes. It may also help alleviate the ongoing foreclosure crisis by providing a more accurate picture of repayment risk and the expected costs of homeownership.
So I had to blog about this because I think it is the perfect example of why homeowners should be wary of the lowest bid for their project, and why you should do a little background check on your builder.
We recently got a call from someone building a new home who had questions about the energy efficiency of a specific home heating system. We explained that he was putting the cart before the horse: he needed to first ensure that his home had a tight building envelope with proper insulation. When he told me his builder was giving him some push back about increasing the exterior wall insulation from R-19 a red flag went up. A check on the Idaho Professional License and Registration search page found that his contractor had his registration revoked in 2009.
When considering a contractor please check them out. Building a home may be the largest investment you make in your life. Make sure that the person you hire is willing and able to protect that investment. Here is a basic list of questions to consider:
How much general liability coverage do you carry? Idaho requires a minimum of $300,000 for registration, but I wouldn’t accept less than $1,000,000.
Do you require insurance certificates of all of your sub contractors? Do you have proof of that insurance? Don’t allow any sub trades on your property if they do not have their own insurance.
How long have your employees/subcontractors been working for you? You don’t want your home to be the test case for a new sub.
What is your warranty? You wouldn’t buy a cell phone without a warranty, why would you not have one on your biggest investment?
What building science classes have you taken? You expect your cell phone’s technology to improve every year – expect the same of your home.
Are you willing to provide addresses of past work and a list of references that I can contact?
Have you ever had disciplinary action filed against you by any state or local agency or a home owner?
Beware: This year alone we have heard of a 3 year old home flooding due to plumbing failure, shower tile falling off because it was installed directly on the drywall, siding installed directly over sheathing, floor tile popping up due to moisture and a two-story lake home built on a 6″ foundation with no drainage. These homes were all constructed in the last 5 years.
We recently completed our NAHB Green Building Standard certified cottage in Sandpoint. It has been a fun project and we are thankful for all of the subcontractors that worked on the project with an open mind and enthusiasm. Achieving certification is a whole house approach and efficiency and conservation considerations must be addressed in six different categories. The cottage achieved an Emerald (the highest) rating in both Energy Efficiency and Operation, Gold in Indoor Quality and Silver in Lot Design, Resource Efficiency and Water Efficiency, with an overall Silver rating. (A home can only achieve the lowest level reached in a category.) This is only the second home North of Coeur d’ Alene certified, and the only one that has reached Silver.
Our intention with this project was to show that a high-performance, energy efficient home can be built with little additional costs. We estimate that the cost to to certify the home was between 1% and 2% of the overall build costs. The additional costs include spray foam insulation in the ceiling, Water Sense plumbing fixtures, Energy Star appliances and the Heat Recovery Ventilator. Many of the “green” options didn’t necessarily costs more than “traditional” choices, such as wool carpeting and bamboo floors. Other decisions were a financial wash, such as including a Ductless Heat Pump instead of a furnace and duct-work.
Studies, such as a study conducted by Ecotope for the City fo Seattle, have shown that homes that achieve Washington Built Green or LEED certifications are 20% to 30% more efficient than homes built to the 2006 Washington State Energy Code, more stringent than the locally used International Energy Conservation Code . According to local building inspectors, most homes built in Sandpoint and Bonner County would not achieve the 2006 Washington State Energy Code. We’re very interested to see what the water and energy bills are for the Cottage.
Next week a HERS (Home Energy Rating System) rating will be calculated that will provide us a quantifiable efficiency number. The HERS Index is a scoring system established by the Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) in which a home built to the specifications of the HERS Reference Home (based on the 2006 International Energy Conservation Code) scores a HERS Index of 100, while a net zero energy home scores a HERS Index of 0. The lower a home’s HERS Index, the more energy efficient it is in comparison to the HERS Reference Home. Each 1-point decrease in the HERS Index corresponds to a 1% reduction in energy consumption compared to the HERS Reference Home. Thus a home with a HERS Index of 85 is 15% more energy efficient than the HERS Reference Home and a home with a HERS Index of 80 is 20% more energy efficient.
Thank you to everyone that helped on the Cottage and to everyone that allowed us to give them a tour. We hope to have another certified cottage available next year, though this time it will be a 3 bedroom 2 bath option.
