What is Real Estate

Writen by Michael McClure

Real estate disclosure laws vary from state-to-state, but the principles are for the most part universal: sellers must disclose information about their home to prospective purchasers BEFORE a prospective purchaser may make an offer to purchase that home. Most states have standardized forms which sellers are required to use for this specific purpose. Michigan, the state in which my company operates, requires every seller of a home to complete the following disclosure statements:

• Seller's Disclosure Statement

• Lead Based Paint Disclosure Statement

Sellers' Disclosure Statement

As the name implies, the Seller's Disclosure Statement is intended to disclose information about the condition of the property of which the current owner is aware. Experience shows that the five most common defects in residential properties are as follows:

• Bad foundation

• Worn roof

• Poor water drainage

• Inadequate systems (electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, etc.)

Accordingly, particular attention should be paid to these specific topics when reviewing the Seller's Disclosure Statement.

Other important points relating to this document are as follows:

• The items disclosed on the Seller's Disclosure Statement should be carefully analyzed and taken into consideration BEFORE determining what price to offer on a home, not AFTER. An unwritten rule of price negotiation is that if an item in properly disclosed on the Seller's Disclosure Statement, a seller will almost never allow that item to be used by a purchaser as "leverage" in negotiating a lower sales price AFTER the initial offer has been made. The most common example of this is a purchaser seeking to renegotiate a lower price after the inspection has been performed. As an illustration, assume a buyer has an inspection and the resulting inspection report states something like "roof is significantly worn and will need to be replaced within five years." Assuming this condition was properly disclosed by the seller on the Seller's Disclosure Statement, the purchaser will be fighting an uphill battle in attempting to renegotiate a lower price based upon the "discovery" of this worn roof. The seller's very reasonable position will almost always be: "I properly disclosed that before you made your offer. You should have taken this factor into consideration when you determined the initial price you were willing to offer"

• Sellers complete this disclosure with varying degrees of honesty and candor. I always advise my sellers to complete this disclosure as honestly and as completely as possible, as I never want a prospective purchaser to have doubts about the homeowner's integrity. However, I know from experience that not all people think this way. Which is why I place limited reliance on this disclosure. It is ONLY A GUIDE. I – and by extension, my clients - never assume it is all-inclusive. Which is precisely why I insist that my clients have both a complete "contractor's inspection" AND a radon test. THESE are the actions that you simply must take to protect yourself

Lead Based Paint Disclosure Statement

The Lead Based Paint Disclosure Statement is intended to inform a prospective purchaser about the potential existence of lead based paint in a home. Specifically, the homeowner is required to disclose whether they are (1) aware of lead based paint in the home, and (2) in possession of any records or reports relating to any lead based paint testing that has been performed. This disclosure is only applicable to homes built prior to 1978. Experience has shown that very few homeowners actually test for the presence lead based paint, and accordingly this disclosure typically yields no information of benefit to a prospective purchaser.

I hope this helps further your understanding of real estate disclosures. For a more detailed discussion of real estate disclosures please visit the Professional One Real Estate website. Remember to ALWAYS review these in advance of making an offer on any home. Also, remember to factor into your offer pricing decision whatever it is that you learn from reading these disclosures. Good luck, and happy house hunting!

Michael McClure is the founder of Professional One Real Estate, a brokerage located in Plymouth, Michigan. After graduating from Michigan State University with a degree in accounting, McClure worked as a Certified Public Accountant for Price Waterhouse for nearly a decade. After leaving accounting in 1991, he began selling real estate. To date, he and his partner, RE/MAX Hall of Fame Member Phyllis Lemon, have cumulative lifetime sales of approximately $500M.

McClure also volunteers on the Professional Standards Committee (a self-governing body of the local association of realtors that acts in a judge-and-jury-like fashion regarding ethics complaints and arbitration disputes) of Western Wayne Oakland County Association of Realtors. He sat for and passed the State of Michigan's Associate Real Estate Broker's examination in December 1996. McClure and his team have developed one of Metro Detroit's top ranking real estate websites http://www.professionalone.com.

Writen by Jake Truman

Turn on the TV at almost any time day or night and you will find news and talk shows informing us that there is a Real Estate bubble. What is a "bubble" and how do they know? The simple principle of what goes up must come down is being applied in general thought now and many in the public are starting to buy it. Let's sit down, think logically and see if there is indeed a bubble or if there is room to grow.

Challenge 1: The "Investors" are driving the market upward and when they leave, everything will crash.

This of course is completely false. Let's start by looking at home loans 5-10 years ago. A person with a decent credit score would have to pass a bunch of hurdles and put down 5-10%. On a $200,000 homes, this meant coming up with $10,000 - $20,000. The Internet was around, but still a mystery to most. Fast forward to today. The Internet is widely used by everyone from the grade school child to the senior citizen. The flow of information is simply amazing and because of this people are being educated quickly. People are no longer limited to just those they personally know. Loans are now easier to get. Someone with decent credit can walk into a home with zero down now.

How many people do you know that pay rent on time? How many of those people have $10,000 or $20,000 or more in their account? Thanks to the recent relaxation of loan qualifications, these people were locked out of owning a home as recent as 5-10 years ago can now walk into a home and enjoy the American dream. You see, it is not solely investors driving the market (many are regular people), but the millions and millions of Americans who can now walk into a home with little to nothing down.

Challenge 2: Don't forget about the Tech market crash.

You can't go far without hearing some so-called expert performing a "remember the Alamo" yell about the tech stock crash years ago. Why is this not relevant? The first reason would be that you can live in a home and everyone needs somewhere to live. A stock is just a piece of paper that you can put in the shredder or in a drawer. If it goes to zero you have nothing. What if a home went to zero? You would still have it to live in and enjoy.

The tech market crashed because you had brick and mortar CEO's and personnel trying to run Internet based companies. You had people with no real knowledge of how to make money on the Internet coming up with all sorts of ridiculous ideas. It was destroyed because the majority of the people running the show were not properly qualified and the people investing did not care. To compare this crash with Real Estate is like comparing the Enron fiasco to why you burnt the tri-tip on your BBQ.

Challenge 3: Interest rates will go up and everything will crash.

Will it now? Rates have not jumped up overnight nor will there. Think about this. Let's say you are looking at a home that will require you carry a mortgage of $200,000. Right now you can get it at 6%, but you wait and tomorrow when you wake up, rates went up and it will now cost you 8% (which is a major jump). The difference? $250 per month. If you bought a home just $20,000 less, your mortgage difference would drop to only $100 per month more. This was a huge jump, but would $250 per month stop everyone from buying? Not even close. It would cause some to lower the amount of house they bought slightly. For most, they still buy.

There are more loans for people with bad credit and low incomes than ever before. These are not some wildly high percentage loans either. The ease of loan approval has created millions of buyers all over the country. I would submit to you that if homes in an area come down and correct a little, it is not because of a "bubble", rather because the homes were overpriced in that area to begin with and/or the area's value decreased. You can find out more about Real Estate by visiting my website, Jake Truman.com.

Copyright 2005 JakeTruman.com

Jake Truman is a Real Estate & Stock investor and Credit informer. Website: Real Estate. He has published a book on Credit Help, which is available at his website.

Writen by Adam L Smith

Notaires always oversee the legal aspects of the purchases of property for sale in France. Different from the English system, the notaire acts as the role of a solicitor, but on behalf of the state. English buyers often feel uncomfortable with the single notaire and often employ British based legal advisors to help out with the French bureaucracy that occurs with the purchase of property for sale in France. This is more expensive though but is often thought as money well spent, but it can also be thought as a waste of money; it all depends on individual preference. Some purchasers appoint two notaires, it is possible to do this as long as they can communicate effectively together but this is not necessary and does not cost more.

Notaires are basically lawyers and thus have little interest in estate agents in the purchasing of property for sale in France process. You will need to make an appointment with a notaire, they normally only speak French and will show you a selection of houses with often limited information. To view properties it is necessary to make further appointments that normally have to be accompanied. Upon deciding to purchase a property for sale in France all the paperwork will be in French so it is often advised to obtain some help with the translation. At the time of completion it will be up to you to arrange the provisions for all amenities and to cater for all required insurance.

It is also up to you to provide all the finance necessary and to discover builders if any restoration is required. When carrying out the final handover of property for sale in France you will probably need to put down a deposit ranging in between 10-15% of the asking price. This includes all of the legal fees and the notaire's commission.

Notaires usually charge lower rates of commission than agents, and because you are dealing with legal professionals people are usually more comfortable using notaires than estate agents. Most notaires are used to foreigners purchasing property for sale in France and are often very helpful in these situations.

Property for Sale in France

Writen by Gil Strachan

Woodstoves and inserts are more efficient than open fireplaces and, if properly installed, can be quite adequate. However many difficulties have been experienced, especially with poor connections between fireplace inserts and original chimney flues.

Liability (in the context of this article) is the state of being legally responsible to compensate someone for property damage or injury. Almost anyone involved in a real estate transaction could be open to potential liability. Here is an example which illustrates the issue of liability…

A home is sold with a wood burning space heater. If a house fire occurs because of an inadequate installation, who is to blame? The vendor? The Realtor? What about the home inspector? What if the home inspector was able to inspect only part of the total system? What if the type of system required more tools for dismantling and testing, and considerably more time than available?

The key issue here is what the purchaser thinks he or she is getting from the parties involved.

Protect yourself, and avoid potential liability - the easy way.

A complete inspection of any wood burning appliance involves an evaluation of every part of the heating system, from the floor pad to the chimney cap. All of these parts are covered in the codes, so compliance can only be determined if every part is inspected.

The chimney is usually the most difficult part of the system to inspect properly. Chimneys which run up through the house are often inaccessible at critical points, such as ceiling and attic penetrations. In some cases, even though you can see sections of the chimney, they cannot be reached with a tape measure to confirm their clearance to combustible building materials. Flue liners are subject to cracking inside masonry chimneys, or buckling and corrosion in the case of metal chimneys. It is difficult to inspect a chimney liner unless it has just been cleaned.

Why not have a certified wood heating technician perform a thorough cleaning and inspection, before the house is listed for sale?

Most state and provincial fire codes, as well as most household insurers, require homeowners to maintain the safety of their chimneys and inspect them at least once a year. Consulting a certified chimney sweep will ensure the present and future owners' safety, and help relieve the liability issues for all parties involved.

A certified technician or chimney sweep will prepare a detailed, written report and have the homeowner sign it. He or she will make sure the homeowner understands the report, especially those areas where problems are found.

A Simple Solution:

Aside from the safety and liability issues, if a wood burning installation is disassembled, thoroughly cleaned and inspected prior to the house being listed, all parties will be aware of the physical condition of the system before an offer to purchase is presented.

There will be no surprises after the fact. Deals will not fall through because of defects discovered, or concerns raised as a result of a subsequent home inspection.

Inspection by a certified professional prior to listing can streamline and simplify the process of purchase and sale.

Gil Strachan is a professional home inspector, representing Electrospec Home Inspection Services in east-central Ontario, Canada since 1994. For more information about home inspections, visit http://www.allaroundthehouse.com.

Writen by James Christensen

There was once an investment property that came on the market for sale in my area that I thought would be of interest to one of my buyers. So we immediately wrote an offer on the property, and were then met with some stiff competition from a few other buyers also.

But lo and behold I put on my best real estate agent running shoes, got the listing agent more interested in having my buyer get the deal than the other people, and we soon signed an agreement for the purchase of the property for $650,000.00.

So once we began moving forward with the due diligence on the transaction, my buyer informed me that he was bringing two partners into the deal along with him. One of the partners had never purchased an investment property before. He was very cautious and worried throughout every step of the transaction.

Well after moving through the contingency period and getting the financing, we were all set to close the transaction. But a few days before we were scheduled to close, my buyers announced that they needed one additional week to close the transaction. One of them had a CD maturing that he was going to utilize for his down payment, but he now realized that it wasn't going to mature until one week after our scheduled closing date.

Upon hearing this the seller went ballistic, saying that he had already obligated himself to purchase another property with the money he would be receiving, and that my buyers were endangering his other transaction with their request for a one week extension. However, he soon gave in and granted my buyers the extension.

Let's flash forward now to one week later on the day the transaction was scheduled to record. This transaction was taking place in California, which is an escrow state, and typically in this situation the escrow agent will call the real estate agents informing them when title has successfully changed hands and been recorded in the names of the new buyers.

So at 10:00 a.m. on the morning of the closing, our escrow agent called to inform me that the grant deed had been recorded, and congratulated me on successfully closing the transaction through her. So, needless to say, I put the phone down and began feeling good about closing the deal and the approximately $20,000.00 that was coming my way as a result of it. Then something completely unprecedented and unexpected happened that would never happen again throughout my entire 20-year career as a real estate agent...

The escrow agent called me back again about 20 minutes later, telling me that we now had a problem. I responded with, "The sale of the property has already been recorded. How could we possibly have a problem?"

She then responded with, "The title company just ran another search on the property, and they've picked up a new $300,000.00 trust deed that's just been recorded on it. I'm going to follow-up on what caused this and I'll be getting back to you."

But about 30 minutes later, our escrow agent called me again with a new update...

" Here's what happened. Our messenger was on his way to deliver the seller his check with the proceeds but we got a hold of the messenger in time and stopped him before he reached the seller's office. I just got off the phone with the seller, and when I asked him about this new $300,000.00 trust deed he responded to me with 'What $300,000.00 trust deed are you talking about?' But when I told him he wouldn't be getting any of his proceeds from the sale until this new $300,000.00 trust deed was removed from the title, he quickly responded to me with, 'Oh that $300,000.00 trust deed!'"

So what the seller had successfully done was borrow an additional $300,000.00 from a private party the week before when we were originally scheduled to close the transaction, which was why he was so irate about the one week delay in closing. He was planning on that private party taking several days to record the new trust deed, which is exactly what happened. But in this situation the $300,000.00 trust deed was recorded just as title was being transferred on the property one week after its scheduled closing time.

Any way you look at it the buyers would have been protected by the title insurance policy which didn't list the new $300,000.00 trust deed as an exclusion to their coverage, but still this was an extremely high drama situation to be involved in as an agent. The seller was hoping that the $300,000.00 trust deed would be recorded sometime after the transaction closed, and that no one would be making any title searches on the property for sometime thereafter into the future.

So the seller immediately paid off the trust deed through escrow, his lender signed off on the reconveyance, and everybody was back to where we were supposed to be once again. The moral of this story is …it is never in the bag till the checks clear. Be ready for all possible outcomes, so that you are mentally prepared to act.

Written for http://www.e-realestatelicense.com By James Christensen Real Estate Expert and educator. Our training site http://www.e-realestatelicense.com offers a valuable service to individuals looking to get into the Real Estate industry.

Writen by Donna Robinson

Asking sellers a few specific questions is your key to identifying potential deals quickly. Whether you are on the phone or standing at the front door, a few concise questions can get you all, or most of the information you need to make an offer.

I want to know what the property is worth, the repairs, and the total debt on the property.

Those 3 facts can tell me all I need to know in most cases. For example, if the sellers house is worth $200,000 but he tells you he will take $100,000, then you can be pretty sure that you can make an offer that the seller will accept.

When you find a deal this obvious, you want to jump on it and make an offer immediately.

On the other hand, let's say that the house is worth $200,000 and the seller is asking $190,000. On the surface there does not appear to be a potential deal. But knowing the Payoff tells you how much flexibility the seller will be likely to have (if any).

When I check the mortgage records, I find that this seller actually owes $130,000 on the house. So, while he is asking a lot more than the payoff, the key now becomes how motivated the seller is or how flexible he is willing to be on terms.

The point is, there are only a few critical pieces of information that you really need to be able to assess the potential of a particular lead.

I use a form called a "Check List For Leads" for this exact purpose. It keeps me on track and helps me insure that I ask the right questions every time.

I Start by chatting a bit with the seller, to get a little rapport going and get a feel for the sellers disposition and level of co- operation. Then I simply ask the seller the questions on my form in a normal, straight forward manner.

Generally the more motivated the seller is, the more details they will readily provide. Sometimes they will tell you before you ask. If the seller is just "kicking tires" to see what someone will offer, he will usually be much less forthcoming with information.

If they ask why I want to know something, I simply tell them the truth. "I have to have this information in order to find out if

I can make an offer that will work for both of us".

Once you have an After Repair Value, and a decent ballpark repair estimate, you can solve for my Maximum Allowable Offer. ARV X .80 - Repairs = Max Allowable Offer (for rentals) (use .65 for quick cash sales)

Then make the offer and see what happens. You don't really have to know anything except the ARV, and approximate repairs in order to make an offer on any property simply by use of the formula.

You will have other due diligence issues to attend to, but this is the method that many pros use to submit an offer quickly. You can always use inspection contingencies or other contract language to protect yourself. But really good deals go quickly.

When you have a number of leads you are working with, such as when you are locating properties for a professional investor or an investment company, A "Check List For Leads" form will help you determine quickly whether you should eliminate a particular lead or make an offer.

You collect the needed info. Then fill in the blanks provided to run your formula. You can put an offer together in minutes in many cases.

To get your FREE Copy of this Form use this link: http://www.reihelp.com/checklistleads.htm

Getting the correct information is the key to evaluating deals quickly and efficiently.

Donna Robinson is a real estate investor, author, and consultant located in Atlanta Georgia. You may read more of her articles on her website at http://www.RealEstateInvestorHelp.com or you may contact her by email at drobinson@reihelp.com or call 404 542-9903.

Writen by Mark Nash

Moving is hard work, stressful and filled with adventure. These do's and don'ts can help you position the new home adventure you or someone you know is having a positive one. It makes sense to know what's proper and what's not in your or your relatives, friends or neighbors new home and hood. Mark Nash author of 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home shares some do's and don'ts on new homeowner etiquette.

Do's
-Host your own housewarming party, if your a new homeowner invite friends and family over to see the new place.

-Deliver your sets of keys to your new neighbors home that the previous homeowners gave to you.

-Introduce yourself, your partner and children to your neighbors before they seek you out. New homeowners, young and old love to be welcomed to the hood.

-Offer to introduce you new neighbors and their dog(s) to other dogs they might run into on neighborhood walks. Don't forget to warn new homeowners with pets about which dog-owners allow their dogs to go off-leash.

-Offer advice on your favorite bakery, hair stylist, babysitters and dog groomers.

-Alert them to the locations of 24-hour stores, in case your new neighbors have an emergency in the middle of the night.

-Offer to help family members who are new homeowners get unpacked or clean.

-Offer to take mountains of packing and moving boxes to the local recycling center for new homeowners.

-Offer to host an informal neighborhood get-together for your new neighbors to meet the current ones.

-Know when it's time to go home, don't wear out your welcome with the new homeowners.

-Bring your new neighbors bottles of chilled spring water on moving day and offer to catch up with them once they get settled.

-Deliver your name, address and phone number with a list of emergency numbers to your new neighbor.

-Offer to clear recently moved-in new neighbors sidewalks after a snowfall, especially if they moved from a non-snow climate.

-Suggest that packages your new neighbors are expecting can be left at your home while they are at work.

-Wave to your new neighbors if you don't have the time to talk.

-Ask your neighbors who they would recommend for repairs and remodeling projects in your new home.

-Do learn from neighbors with different cultural backgrounds.

Don't

Register for gifts if your hosting a housewarming party in your new home.

-Expect housewarming guests to bring gifts and if you do receive gifts, open after the party.

-Drop in on new homeowners, call first.

-Offer decorating advice to a new homeowner unless asked.

-Don't ask how much they paid or imply that the new homeowner over or under paid. People consider financial information private.

-Gossip about the previous homeowners, you might not know if the new owners still talk with them.

-Gossip about others in the neighborhood. Let new make their own decisions.

-Attach ribbons, signs or flags to the new homeowners property without asking permission.

-Ask your new neighbor to trim trees or hedges on your first meeting, they probably know what needs to be done, in time.

-Expect new homeowners to have free time. Moving, working and setting up a household is at the minimum a part-time endeavor.

Housewarming Gift Suggestions

For everyone.

Artist rendering of the new house.
Personalized stationary with the new homeowners address.
How-to home repair book.
Homemade baked goods.
Fresh-picked vegetables and fruit from your garden.
Blooming or foliage houseplants.
Watering can for inside plants.
Specialty Coffee and Teas.
Fun and funky kitchen towels.
Exotic spices.
Gift certificates for home improvement stores, house cleaners, dog walkers, landscapers, local restaurants, spa, window washers.
Bar Accessories, corkscrew, cocktail shaker, wine and drink coasters.
Everyday wine glasses.
Champagne to toast the new homeowners.
Picture frames.
Candles.
Bar accessories: bottle opener, corkscrew, swizzle sticks, and cocktail shakers.

For those with a yard.

Garden tools, or potted perennials from your yard.
Bird feeder or house.
American Flag.

Mark Nash's fourth real estate book, "1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home" (2005), and working as a real estate broker in Chicago are the foundation for his consumer-centric real estate perspective which has been featured on ABC-TV, CBS The Early Show, Bloomberg TV, CNN-TV, Chicago Sun Times & Tribune, Fidelity Investor's Weekly, Dow Jones Market Watch, MSNBC.com, The New York Times, Realty Times, Universal Press Syndicate and USA Today.

Writen by Jennifer Hershey

Anchorage, Alaska, is located in Anchorage County and lies 1434 miles northwest of Seattle, Washington. Anchorage has a population of 260,283. Its residents enjoy outdoor activities like kayaking through Prince William Sound, fly-fishing, skiing, and hiking and a relatively mild climate.

Anchorage is a historical and bustling city that serves as the transportation, banking, and business center of the state. Notable structures include historic buildings such as Anchorage's City Hall, built in 1936, as well as the 4th Avenue Theatre, an art deco style building dating from 1947 with stunning floor to ceiling bronze interior murals.

Anchorage, incorporated in 1920, is a relatively young city, and homes built in the 1950s almost enjoy historic status. Nevertheless, the city's vibrancy has earned Anchorage the reputation as the new 'in' city for travelers to Alaska as well as new residents, who come for its excellent transportation system, mild weather, and central location.

Anchorage Homes

Anchorage properties pool is 94,822 residential properties including Anchorage new homes. The median age of real estate in Anchorage is 1977. The average Household size is 3.19 people. 4% are one bedroom homes, 19% are 2 bedroom homes, 46% are 3 bedroom homes, 24% are 4 bedroom homes, and 5% are 5+ bedroom homes.

Anchorage Mortgage Statistics

Homes With No Mortgage 14%
Homes With Mortgage 86%
First Mortgage Only 74%
First & Second Mortgage or HELOC 12%

Anchorage Area Real Estate Tax

Anchorage Real estate Tax: Median Real Estate Taxes (2000) were $2,523 comparing to 1999 Median Family income $ 63,682. Compare to USA median yearly Real Estate Tax $1,300 and USA median Family Income $42,000 (1999).

Anchorage School District: Children make up 29.1% of Anchorage population. Anchorage has 75,871 under 18 years old residents, or 0.58 kids per one worker, or 0.8 kids per one household.

Anchorage Real Estate & Anchorage Home Ownership

Most residents of this city have come from elsewhere in the United States. Many came to work in the oil fields. Alaskan Native peoples comprise about 8% of the population. The city also has a growing population of Asian and Hispanic residents.

There are 21809.06 or 23% one person households, 30343.04 or 32% two person households, and 17067.96 or 18% three person households in Anchorage, Alaska. Median residents age is 32.4, Senior citizens (65+) make up 14,242 or 5.5%% of Anchorage population.

There are 131,228 workers (over 16 years of age) in Anchorage. Of these, 89% drive to work. Approximately 2.02% of workers in Anchorage take public transportation. An estimated 2.66% walk to work.

Median Anchorage homeowner's housing expenses are 20.9%

Crime in Anchorage (2003), crimes per 10,000 residents per year
Violent Crimes 67
Robberies 13.06
Aggravated Assaults 43.91
Property Crimes 449.74
Burglaries 54.48
Larceny-Thefts 349.27
Motor Vehicle Thefts 45.99

Invest in Anchorage Properties

When making a decision about buying real estate in Anchorage Alaska area, you should consider following statistical data:

Near Medium City
Near Large City Seattle, Washington
Anchorage Zip Codes 99501, 99502, 99503, 99504, 99505, 99506, 99507,
99508, 99513, 99515, 99516, 99517, 99518, 99529, 99530, 99540, 99599
Anchorage Area Codes 907
White population 72.23%
African-American population 5.84
Asian 5.55%
American Indian & Alaskan
Hispanic (of any race) 5.69%
Median Family Income (1999) - $ 63,682%
Population Below Poverty Level - 7.18%

Jennifer Hershey has more than twenty years of experience in the Mortgage Industry as a loan officer. She is the owner of http://www.explainingmortgages.com/, a real estate and mortgage resource site devoted to making mortgage terms and products easy to understand.

Writen by Kendall Matthews

Forget about tree-hugging – the high cost of energy is making environmentalists out of everyone! Homebuilders and homeowners are no exception, and it's anticipated that by 2010, about ten percent of all new homes will be "green."

The biggest challenge to green building has been the misconception that it costs more to construct such a home. But if you do the math over the long run, the money saved will far outpace the money invested.

Consider that environmentally sound design actually uses less construction materials, and you can see that green buildings may indeed cost less to build than more traditional methods. Buckminster Fuller developed the idea of dome buildings decades ago, and builders are now capitalizing on the fact that a "dome home" might use only a third or even a quarter of the materials needed to construct a traditional house.

Aside from using less materials, the materials being chosen these days are also more durable than those used in the past. That translates into lower repair and replacement costs. Sounding better and better, isn't it?

Finally, environmentally and financially friendly design manifests itself outside of the home, where dry landscaping (xeriscaping) helps to conserve water. "Green" homes also save water with fixtures like low-flush toilets, low-flow showerheads, and water recycling systems built right in. It's good for you, your wallet, and your planet!

To learn How Entrepreneurs Can Use Mortgages To Fix Their Cash Flows, Take Full Advantage of the Tax Code, & Get Cash To Invest visit http://www.BeYourOwnBank.info

Understand how I help doctors, business owners, professionals, and investors MAXIMIZE THEIR WEALTH through APARTMENT INVESTING and Income Properties and KEEP IT SAFE by using mortgages and investment insurance MORE EFFECTIVELY! at http://www.KendallMatthews.com

Writen by Myron Lo

The rule of thumb for many potential Bay Area home owners is, "try not to think about it too much." When looking at the average home price in the Bay Area, $560,000, and then looking at what $560,000 affords you (a 2 bedroom home in Stockton or a studio apartment in the Mission District of San Francisco) it is best to make sure you have the down payment and can make mortgage payments, and buy. But even more importantly, don't talk about the price of buying a home, the inflated real estate market, or the size of your potential new abode with anyone outside the area—unless they live in Boston or New York City.

"Low" and "High" are the two words you hear most when talking about real estate prices in the San Francisco Bay Area. Low inventory and low interest rates are driving up home prices, asking prices are high, and bids are even higher. 11,068 new and existing homes were sold in 2004. Prices are rapidly increasing and will soon surpass the drastic prices and sales the area saw in the late 1990's dotcom boom. Even after the dotcom bust of 2000-2001 when everything in the area seemed to be deflating, home prices continued to rise and it hasn't stopped. In addition, in most Bay Area counties, a half million dollar home usually needs some work. It is rare to find a home for $500,000 or under that is ready to move into or livable. With high home prices only getting higher, and low inventory the investments you make in your home, whether with upgrades or more drastic remodeling projects, will only help the resale value.

Often Bay Area residents living in San Francisco and Silicon Valley turn to the East Bay for more affordable home options. However, prices are rapidly increasing in Contra Costa and Alameda counties too. Alameda County's median home price rose 20.3 percent from March of 2004 to March of 2005, and now homes are selling for an average of $527,000. According to the East Bay Business Times: "The only Bay Area county with a median home price of under half a million dollars in March was Solano, at $409,000, up 25.1 percent in a year's time. Despite record median prices, indicators of market distress are still largely absent, according to DataQuick. Foreclosure rates are low, down payment sizes are stable and there have been no significant shifts in market mix, the company says."

Home prices in the Bay Area are high, and thinking about them can get you low, but when you look at the natural beauty of the area, the proximity to the ocean, the mountains, wine country, and numerous cultural outlets it seems are fair price to pay. The Bay Area is one of the fastest growing communities in the country, and has relatively low crime rates, respectable schools, and location, location, location; you can understand the booming real estate market. With home prices in the Bay Area getting higher and higher and the inventory getting smaller and smaller, buying a home in the Bay Area is proving a solid investment regardless of cost.

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