Kria~ Licensed realtor at RPNW

Looks like green certified single family housing is not for first time home buyers

2016-07-01T11:28:00.003-07:00

1st quarter close in new housing starts

2016-04-25T11:19:00.001-07:00

Looks like green certified housing is selling for less than new code built housing. They sold for $2 less a sq ft. The factor that may be impacting that is the code houses were designed by architects and have lots of green features.

Portland's sold new construction facts for 2015

2016-01-19T13:59:00.000-08:00

Friends of trees is planting!!!

2015-03-05T11:30:00.002-08:00

I love this time of year. The camellias and daffodils are blooming. Trees are just starting to come back to life. Thankfully there is more light too!

Look around your neighborhood to see if there are new trees! Friends of trees is comited to getting more trees in our urban canopy. I love it because it cleans the air, cools our summers and makes it even more beautiful!

situs ~ how does it impact you

2015-01-27T16:00:00.001-08:00

Situs what is it? This is the legal definition of the property.

There are different rules for different things. Just because your mailing address says it is in Portland does not mean that you pay taxes to Portland and it does not mean that your kids will go to PPS. I am in process of selling a home with a mailing address that says Portland. The house however is in Gresham.... the situs address. The post office uses the same house number and street along with Portland not Gresham. Straight forward right?

Automatic warranty for contractors

2014-12-10T12:01:00.002-08:00

Lots of people including Realtors think that there is a one year warranty that "comes with" any work that is done. There is not one but there is protection. The CCB however does assist with claims about negligent, improper work or breach of contract. See the link below for Danial Goldstien's legal take of that.

Where is my one year warranty

Linked with permission from Dan Goldstein

My holiday challenge to you!

2014-11-19T14:58:00.002-08:00

The holidays are approaching and it tends to be consumerism on steroids time. I am wondering if we as a people might look at this a bit differently and consider the world we live in. Our gift giving might include something that gives to all. And I mean TREES! Live ones!

Here is my challenge to you. Give someone a tree this year or donate to friends of trees. That helps everyone in a small way.

Donate to Friends of trees

October 2014 market snapshot new construction

2014-10-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

In the Portland proper there were 597 new home starts that sold over the last 6 months.

Here is the break down
19.4% of the homes were green certified homes
61% of the certified homes were Earth Advantage
23% of the certified homes were Energy Star
18% of the certified homes were LEED

Northwest Earth Institute has a challenge for you! Join me!

2014-10-02T11:00:00.001-07:00

The idea of changing for the betterment of the planet can be overwhelming. Northwest Earth Institute makes it easy to start looking at how we can change our behavior and make a more positive impact on the planet.

Here is the link for the challenge http://www.ecochallenge.org/about_the_challenge/choose_your_ecochallenge

Have fun with it and stretch to see if you can do some of this stuff.

On a personal note. One that I like is turning the heat down. A friend of mine also suggested a step further with this~ not turning on the heat for as long as you can stand it. I tried this myself. Funny thing is the body starts to acclimate. See what you discover!

Pdx Its about the infill ~See the cream of the crop October 11th 10 am to 4 pm

2014-09-25T14:36:00.000-07:00

Portland is trying it's best to make a dense city. Some of the infill is exemplary. It is thoughtfully designed with different considerations. Getting dense is not all that easy. There are so many design issues that come into play. I have seen some good infill and a lot of it is done by professional architects.

Why would that make a difference? They are trained to consider things like function and form. They are trained to think about context. This matters to people who live around the new infill. I posted earlier about an architect designed ADU that was in a very tiny space and was private! The designer considered what it would be like to live there.

American Institute of Architects is having a tour featuring some of this year's architect designed infill projects. Tickets are $40

This is an AIA event

visit aiaportland.org

503.223.8757

Best green home on tour ~ 4612 NE 38TH

2014-09-17T13:18:00.003-07:00

This is one of those homes that have two value ads with it. It is an Earth Advantage green build and it is thought through from an aesthetic point of view. Built by Oliver Olson of Olson Design Build This house is on the market for $799,000. The main house has 3 bedrooms up and 2 baths, and a half bath on the main. The ADU has one bath and one loft bedroom.

The second piece is what I am more focused on today. Aesthetics are clearly important to this builder. Strong geometric forms are reinforced by the finish choices. The eaves of the roof pass through the house and are articulated in the wood finish on the ceiling of the interior public space. The overhangs also serve a practical function of protecting the building and keeping the rain away from the walls and foundation.

One thing I quite enjoyed about the finish choices is that they were placed to really define a space or a transition from one space to another. A nice example of this is the way the outdoor back yard area is made through the red pavers. They are not used to provide the path to the ADU which is nestled in the back of the house with a good degree of privacy. The Adu is very well done with lots of light and privacy.

Blogged about with permission (Kathleen)

Three easy care house plant that take out toxins

2014-09-15T13:41:00.001-07:00

One of the things you can do to improve your indoor air quality is to improve it through house plants.

Spider plants make great house plants and it has long been known to clean the air. They are easy to start and share too. They make new plants like strawberries do. They send a shoot with a baby plant attached. They filter Formaldehyde ammonia, xylene and Tolune for the air.

The Peace lily is a very tolerant plant and it is beautiful when it blooms. This plant takes out the following toxins: benzene, formadahyde, xylene and ammonia.

The snake plant does not need much but it gives a lot by passively absorbing toxins such as nitrogen oxides and formaldehyde.

Who is leading the charge builders or homeowners?

2014-09-12T11:38:00.001-07:00

Solar panels and Geothermal

There has been a push to green our housing stock and there are some big ticket items that can be incorporated into our buildings. I got curious with my last post here because I noticed that a lot of the new green certs were not using a full solar system or using geothermal. In fact this year stats so far for new construction is that .00064 percent of sold new homes had either geothermal or a full PV system.

Home owners are leading this charge on getting solar or geothermal into their homes. Home owners that have sold this year that have either a full PV system or geothermal systems make up .0058% of the sold homes. Neither number is great But home owners are doing better than builders.

To be fair there was a small percentage of PV ready homes that were not included in this look into where we are in greening our housing stock.

Green certifications and affordability ~ First timers and million dollar homes

2014-09-10T18:14:00.001-07:00

Apparently the very wealthy and the first time home buyers are the ones that like to pay the most for a green certified home.

Homes selling over a million in the territory that RMLS covers in Oregon and Washington buyers are willing to pony up an extra $54 dollars a square foot. More interesting is that these homes are not hitting the open market. Does that mean they might get more??? Who knows because over the last three months these homes are not listed on the MLS until they are sold.

What intrigues me more is the people that have the least money are also willing to pay more for the homes that have green certifications, like energy star and earth advantage. They paid $32 dollars a square foot more. The ones that had Earth Advantage sold for 2 dollar more per foot than did the Energy star homes.

Homes that sold from $300,000 to one million saw a smaller increase in price for the certification. Those folks paid from $14 to $16 dollars a square foot more for their homes. I think this set of folks is the wisest set.

This is a study by Kria Lacher of the entire RMLS territory of green certs vs not about single family

Selling homes in the virtual age~ a green option

2014-09-10T14:45:00.001-07:00

People sell vacant houses all the time. Most Realtors know that having it staged is a good idea since it helps people visualize or think about how they might live there. I have started a new service called virtual staging. It eliminates the need to haul heavy furniture, curtains, rugs and pictures from one place to another. It saves gas and time!

Virtual staging also gets people in the door. Here is an example. This room just has curtains and a rug in it. It allows a potential buyer to see what could be done there.

http://tinyurl.com/mcdxcgv that is the full listing.

Don't forget to look at my website yourportlandlifestyle.com

Value of green certified homes close in Portland

2014-08-09T14:01:00.000-07:00

Close in Portland has seen a number of new construction projects since the market has been recovering. Thirty one percent of the new construction are green certified homes. There are a growing number of residential LEED construction homes on the market, thirty two percent! LEED homes command twenty percent more than standard Portland homes.

One trend that I have noticed is that less of the LEED homes are architect designed projects. Design in my opinion should be an a factor in LEED. That has been a key historical value add of the LEED certification.

Of note: There were no Passiv Haus built close in over the last year ....

Friends of trees is having their annual fruit tree give away

2011-04-22T10:33:00.000-07:00

Trees are a wonderful thing to plant in your yard. Especially when you consider they shade your yard and you need less water and less AC in the house. At friends of trees you can get up to 3 fruit trees. A frind of mine made a great fence with them! It is his apple fence!!

green MLS in Arkansas

2011-02-12T14:55:00.000-08:00

I am helping another Realtor green an MLS in Arkansas. She is really excited about helping her clients find and sell their greened or green property. We'll do the low hanging fruit first. The energy piece of it is the low hanging fruit. Department of Energy already performance tests and labels the "plug-ins". Looking forward to seeing how it turns out

Green homes tour~ the greenest yet!!!

2010-08-26T10:20:00.000-07:00

Green Homes tour

September 25th, 2010, 11am – 5pm, followed by a FREE Info Fair at Ecohaus, 819 SE Taylor, Portland, OR 97214 from 3pm – 7pm. This year the tour and fair are on the fourth Saturday in September.

It's the greenest green building tour yet! The bar is rising! Come see what a passiv haus is! Come see homes built on the tiniest of lots (50x50 feet). See a retrofitted victoian completed with the character intact!

current info for real estate

2010-08-24T14:43:00.000-07:00

Good job Fred Meyer!!!

2010-08-13T13:40:00.000-07:00

Fred Meyer's is running a pilot program that I fully support. They are testing out doing without the plastic bag!!! I only found out about it recently because it is not a my Fred Meyer. I think everyone should support this. Stores can supply paper bags which can be composted. They can also supply bags made of recycled content. Those bags should satisfy people that are concerned about bag breakage as well as keeping things dry. There are plenty of locally made cloth bags that people can use. It is also easy enough to carry a small amount of things with no bag... I do that all the time.

Please support the bag test

email~ bagfeedback@fredmeyer.com

Clackamas county has it right!!!

2010-08-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

Clackamas county has been awarded money to rehab houses~ green and to assist low income people. Their strategy is well thought out and provides clear information to the consumer that does not over simplify a complex issue of how to green your home.

This is 2005 not 2010! This was actually posted on Realtor.org

2010-08-04T10:38:00.000-07:00

10 Steps to Win Over Sellers
Helping eager buyers get the home of their dreams isn’t so easy in this unsettled market. Here are 10 tips for making sure sellers won’t turn up their nose at an offer:

1. Make sure the buyers are pre-approved for a mortgage (not to be confused with being pre-qualified) so they can close in about 10 days.
2. Study the buyer. Have they made an offer on another home or are they working against any other kind of deadline?
3. Make a clean offer – no requests for help with closing costs or other contingencies.
4. Include an automatic escalation clause – say $500 over the highest competing bid. (Insist that seller show the offers in writing.)
5. Sweeten the offer with a bonus if the deal gets done quickly.
6. Offer 10 percent of the purchase price in earnest money.
7. Waive the appraisal. The buyer will have to be willing to pay any difference between the selling price and what the bank is willing to lend. ((NEVER NEVER HAS THIS BEEN POSSIBLE EXCEPT CASH OFFERS))
8. Consider waiving the inspection.
9. Offer the full list price, preferably in cash.
10. Write a love letter to sellers, telling them all the things your client loves about their home.

Source: MSN Real Estate, Marilyn Lewis (08/03/2010)

2010 fed tax credits

2010-02-03T12:07:00.001-08:00

2010 Extended Energy Tax Credits – Through 12/31/2010
For all qualified upgrades, the credit is 30% of the covered cost up to a $1500 total credit. For instance, if you pay $3000 for insulation (excluding installation costs), your credit would be $900. The house must be your principal residence and the credits don’t apply to new construction. Other, upgrade-specific restrictions apply, so see the site for details.

Energy Efficient Windows and Doors, including many Storm Doors and Skylights. Cost eligible for the tax credit does not include installation costs. Certain other restrictions (like U-value and IECC qualifications apply).
Water Heaters. Credit includes installation costs; some restrictions for energy efficiency apply.
Metal and Asphalt Roofs. Credit does NOT include installation costs. The roof must be highly energy efficient (asphalt roofs must have cooling granules, for instance).
Insulation, whether spray foam, fiberglass, or blow-in cellulose, they’re all covered so long as they meet IECC requirements. Installation cost is NOT covered.
HVAC Components, including certain Advanced Air Handlers, Air Force Heat Pumps, Central A/C Units, Boilers, Propane, and Gas Furnaces. Tax credits include installation costs.
Biomass Stoves.

Flat stanley joins friends of trees

2010-02-01T19:00:00.000-08:00

What a suprise!!! Flat Stanely joined us for our tree planting