George's Blog

I am happy to report that I am getting very positive feedback on my interests in spreading the ideas of Home Energy Efficiency. It also seems that the deeper I get into it, the more there is to know, and the more informational resources there seems to be.

As a Boomer who came of age in the gasoline shortages of the 1970's, I learned to hate OPEC and distrust the monopolies that control our fuel supply. They are like drug dealers to us "energy junkies", they want to make it as expensive as possible to get the most profit out of us, ideally without killing us. Consequently, I became quickly enamored with the growing idea of alternative and locally appropriate energy sources- solar, wind, small scale hydro, agricultural byproducts biomass, etc. If only these ideas had taken hold to a greater extent 35 years ago, this would be a much different world, I'm sure.

So this is why I'm so enthusiastic to learn of the steps we can take in Real Estate as homeowners and professionals to help assert ourselves and our energy independence; and to do my best to share them with others, and put them into practice for my clients whenever I can.

Here's a good article discussing the results of a survey done of prospective homeowners about "Green" features being at the top of homebuyers wish list:

http://www.ecohomemagazine.com/news/2011/12-december/green-features-top-most-wanted-list-for-home-buyers.aspx

Now that I have been actively engaging in learning more about home energy efficiency alternatives and resources, I am coming across a lot of very useful information. Here's another resource, this time from the US Dept. of Energy (naturally?).

http://energy.gov/articles/weatherized-homes-saving-money-families-across-us

It's all about saving energy, which practically speaking, means saving money and as a side benefit- saving the environment!

Choose to be the future you envision.

By the way, I've been looking at new TV's my old plasma failed- did you know that the LED TV's use only about a quarter of the energy of plasmas? I just learned that yesterday, who knew?

Had to share this innovative building technique that is starting to spread from Europe, first time in New Zealand. Looks very promising for wide scale adoption in the USA. The opportunities for people assert their energy independence are limited only by their imagination, information available, and of course, financing!

http://ht.ly/8Gp9H

Follow the progress of this building here-

http://passivehouse1nz.blogspot.com/

Wow, busy blogging day today, lots to report. Our friends at FHA are continuing to tighten lending rules, just what this market needs. There is a very low delinquency ratio for loans originated in the last 3 years, they are trying to fix the barn door after the horses have already run out. I guess they don't want them back!

http://newsgeni.us/?p=103389

This could be promising, having learned from the failures of past attempts. Can't wait to see the details as they come out, and to follow the progress of this proposal through Congress.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/46125347

let me know if this opens up or not-

I saw this article in the New York Times on the op-ed page, suggesting that the Real Estate market could be stimulated by the Government providing an insurance policy for down payment protection to cover buyers in the event that property values went down after they bought a property. They would pay a fee, an insurance premium for this at the time of close of escrow. This idea has some merit, worthy of discussion.

What do you think?

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/opinion/down-payment-insurance-for-homebuyers.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=thab1

You may be aware that recently Congress extended the popular payroll tax cut until Feb 28th 2012. This is good news of course, however, they decided to pay for it by charging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Congress's latest favorite whipping boys) extra fees on loans to pay for it. Well, everybody knows they are beyond broke; and the sh*t flows downhill, so the natural consequence is that they in turn charge the lenders higher fees they buy the loans from, The lenders then, pass the fees along to the consumers purchasing homes and refinancing right now. It is called the G-fee, short for Guarantee Fee, and comes to about a half point in fee, which translates into about .25 -.375% in rate.

So what this means is that 2 weeks ago the rates were at 3.75% for a conforming 30 year fixed loan, and now they are 4.00-4.125%, just like that. Thanks Congress! and they want to know why the Real Estate market refuses to improve--be sure to write to your local Member of Congress about it-

Hey, remind me to tell you why most people who got FHA loans before March 2011 can't refinance--

Well, it's nice to see that energyupgradeca.org is stepping up their outreach to the general public as well as the Realtor and mortgage broker communities. Last week they had a public information meeting in Fremont at the City offices on Liberty Street in that was moderated by Dan Schoenholz, Deputy Community Development Director, with the City of Fremont. There were several contractors there who are Green Certified to discuss and answer questions about upgrading and retrofitting homes for increased energy efficiency and comfort. These contractors are listed on the website GreenPointRated.com. There was a good turnout of about 45 people who expressed keen interest in the programs and rebates available for energy retrofits, and a question and answer period after the presentation. Keep an eye out for more workshops and outreach programs, if you are  considering a remodel or energy saving upgrades.

Depending on the age and condition of your home, it may be possible to consider an FHA 203KStreamline refinance, coupled with an EEM (Energy Efficient Mortgage), refinance your current home loan into a lower fixed rate, get up to $45,000 in remodeling and energy upgrades, modernize your home, increase its value and save enough every month in energy costs so that you actually end up with lower payments overall per month than you have now! Go to GreenPointRated.com to get started on your research. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.greenwerkspro.com%2Fmaking-your-house-more-eco-friendly%2F&h=8AQFK0SR8AQHds4t59iLO06DBFUJ6_CI5yClfVTDeLtm2Yw

This is a good website for more basic information from a Green Contractor in Chicago, as an example.

Why not start by finding out about an energy audit of your home?

I came across this great expose article today that tells the story of one of the major subprime players- WMC Mortgage, bought by General Electric in 2000. It tells of their outrageous, fraudulent corporate culture of greed; and the environment that were all common practices at the subprime lenders at the time http://dailybail.com/home/fraud-and-folly-the-untold-story-of-general-electrics-shady.html.

This is not for the faint of heart!