My New Blog

Area Tax Rates: Most rates change in April

Locality                       Tax Rate                  Year                 Telephone

Charlottesville                 .95 per $100                  2009                 434-970-3136 

Albemarle                      .752 per $100                  2009                434-296-5856

Orange                            .47 per $100                  2009                540-672-4441

Greene                            .69 per $100                   2009               434-985-5211   

Nelson                             .55 per $100                   2009              540-967-3432       

Fluvanna                           .50 per $100                  2009               434-591-1940

Buckingham                       .44 per $100                  2009               434-969-4972

Madison                             .44 per $100                  2009               540-948-4409

Last night I returned from Hampton having just finished the National Association of Realtor's last class required for the Green designation!

This morning, with spring again in the air, thoughts turn to improvements we may want to undertake to green our homes.  I thought you might like a list of energy and cost saving projects.  These are retrofits, which are inexpensive lower-level upgrades that will improve energy efficiency or air quality, conserve resources or improve health.  The following list of retrofits should cost less than $500 each, and many cost less than $50:

1)  Install low-flow faucets or put on a low-flow adapter to reduce water usage. 

2)  Clean refrigerator coils for more efficient appliance operation.

3) Replace weatherstripping to eliminate leaks and conserve use of heating and cooling.

4)  Reduce light pollution and use less electricity by installing motion detectors on outside lighting.

5)  Use "green" cleaning products that do not contain chemicals dangerous to your health.  (I will post a guide to this later)

6)  Plant deciduous trees to provide shelter/energy efficiency during extreme heat and cold.

7)  Replace standard light bulbs with the newer, long-lasting energy-efficient CFL bulbs.

8)  Install a programmable thermostat(s) for significant energy savings.

9)  Insulate hot-water heater with a "jacket."

10)  Build a clothes line to reduce usage of dryer.

11)  Create a rain garden where you have water run-off

12)  Create a compost container for discarding vegetable matter.

13)  Add a tube skylight for amazing natural light.

14)  Put a recirculating pump under the sink.

15)  Seal ducts with mastic tape (not duct tape which lasts only 2-3 years at most).

16) Remove light outlets and spray foam insulation around the electric boxes underneath before replacing covers.

17)  Buy and install a chimney balloon to prevent heating/cooling loss.

18)  Make or buy a rain barrel to reuse water from rain and gutters for landscaping & lawn.

19)  Install water filters on faucets to insure water purity, even in the city (eliminate chlorine).

20)  Caulk around windows and vents that leak air.

21)  Install lighting controls such as timers, dimmers, and occupancy sensors.

22)  Order an energy audit to diagnose your home's energy efficiency.  In the Charlottesville area, reliable inspectors certified by BPI and HERS are:             

     Laura Fiori of Key Green Energy Solutions (434-989-3514) or email Laura@KeyGreenEnergy.com   

     Eric Gilchrist (434-970-3506 or email ericgrv@gmail.com  

    Rick West at Virginia Home Performance (804-543-8139) or email rwest@virginiahomeperformance.com   

23)  Follow-up the energy audit by completing the recommendations.  One BPI Analyst and Project Manager who understands green retrofits is:  Matt Nauman of Upstream Construction (434-531-2250).

24)  Search the following website for more ideas and explanations:

http://greenhomeguide.org

Enjoy a  happy, green spring!

Laura Fiori, LEED AP, BPI Building Analyst, has released the following information about energy efficiency incentive funding availability:

Virginia has just released the next round of funding for energy efficiency rebates. $250 is available toward the cost of a home energy audit (bringing the cost down to less than half price!) and 20% up to $2000 is available toward the cost of certain energy efficiency upgrades including new high efficiency HVAC equipment, air sealing and insulation, and many other things.

To sign up to reserve funding, go to the following link. When filling out the form, check all the boxes for upgrades that you think you may need. If your HVAC equipment, water heater, or refrigerator is more than ten years old, check these boxes. The audit will let you know what your priorities are. You don't have to do everything you check but you will keep your options open. You have six months to complete the work after you are notified that you have funding (you'll be notified in 7 to 10 business days),

http://www.dmme.virginia.gov/DE/ARRA-Public/SEPRebate.shtml

If you have been considering an audit, this is a great opportunity. The funding won't last long. Reserve today!

On one side of the debate are industry players like Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance, who said in an article in the San Francisco Chronicle:

“There is no question rates have been kept artificially low by the Fed’s heavy buying. My opinion is that rates will go up a full percentage point initially, meaning that 30-year fixed conforming loans, now hovering around 5 percent, would hit 6 percent.”

This group is basing their projections on the fact that the Fed had originated a huge percentage of the mortgages over the last two years as evidenced by the graph below:

They feel there is not the same appetite for mortgages in the private sector especially at the 5% mortgage rate.

Yet others feel that the impact of the Fed’s exiting will be less dramatic. As an example, the Wall Street Journal in an article last week reported:

“Laurie Goodman, a senior managing director at mortgage-bond trader Amherst Securities Group LP in New York, estimates that the Fed move will add a maximum of about 0.25 percentage point to mortgage rates. “There is a lot of private money on the sidelines,” waiting to buy mortgage securities once the Fed stops gobbling most of them up, Ms. Goodman says. She points to banks, money managers and foreign investors.”

In that same article, this graph was included showing that:

“…analysts at Credit Suisse and FTN Financial Capital Markets forecast that mortgage rates will be in a range of roughly 5% to 5.25% at the end of 2010. Moody’s Economy.com projects about 5.7%, and Barclays Capital 6%.”

Also HSH Associates in their Two Month Forecast on March 8 stated:

“Although we don’t usually provide an outlook for conforming 30-year fixed rates by themselves, we’ll wing it a little this time, and call for a 5% to 5.40% range over the next couple of months.”

Those who doubt there will be a dramatic increase feel that the Fed will not sell the inventory of mortgages they currently have anytime in the near future thus limiting the supply available to the private sector. That is probably correct.

However, others feel that even if that is the case there will be drastic increases in the 30 year rate.

Christopher Thornberg, principal at Beacon Economics in the same SF Chronicle article mentioned above said:

“Clearly, when they stop printing all that money, it’s going to be a shock to the system. I have to assume that when they pull back on it, it will cause a 100- to 200-basis-points rise to rates of 6 percent or 7 percent. When they start selling off the stuff they purchased, which by my guess would come early next year, which would cause another 100- to 150-basis-points rise.”

What does this mean to you?

I still strongly believe rates will climb rather quickly upon the Fed’s exist; however, the best quote I found on the point was from Gillian Tett in the Financial Times:

“For the moment, at least, the only honest answer is that nobody truly knows. The global financial machine has been so distorted by government aid that it is frustratingly hard for anyone to be entirely sure how the cogs are working. So, right now, there is reason for American officials to feel some relief about what is happening in the mortgage world; the calm is profoundly good news. But although I very much hope it lasts, I would not be willing to bet too much money on that. I fear this may yet be a lull before a bigger storm.”

White House extends refinancing program for troubled homeowners

By Renae Merle

Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 2, 2010

The Obama administration announced Monday that borrowers with little or no equity in their homes will have another year to take advantage of a refinancing program that so far has made little progress.

The Home Affordable Refinance Program was set to expire in June, but so far it has reached fewer than 200,000 of the up to 5 million borrowers federal regulators hoped it would help.

Market conditions have not changed significantly since the program was launched last year, Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said in a statement. So to give lenders more time to implement the plan and to "support and promote market stability," the initiative will be extended to June 2011, he said.

The program is aimed at the millions of borrowers whose home values have been diminished by a weak housing market, or who owe more than their houses are worth, making it impossible for them to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates. Originally, the program targeted borrowers whose loan balances were slightly higher than their property values. The program was later expanded to include those who owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are worth.

These underwater borrowers are at greater risk of foreclosure, and the administration hoped that lowering their payments would decrease their chances of falling behind.

But the program ran into several problems. Many borrowers were too deep in debt to qualify, and the program was limited to loans backed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, the federal mortgage financing companies. The initiative was also dogged by delays as lenders struggled to update their computer systems to accommodate the program. Another obstacle was that many homeowners have second mortgages or private mortgage insurance, which can get in the way of refinancing a primary loan.

And for some borrowers, closing costs and other refinancing expenses were not worth the lower interest rates, especially for homeowners worried that they might lose their jobs or might hit another financial crunch later.

"The overall volume last year was an embarrassingly small amount. I don't think it will make a big difference" to have the program extended, said Thomas Lawler, a housing consultant in Vienna.