Archive for October, 2010
What Makes A Home Eco-Friendly?
What comes to mind when you hear the term “ecofriendly homes”? Energy efficiency is something that people most often equate with this term and that is certainly an important part of ecofriendly homes but there is more to being ecofriendly than just saving energy a whole lot more. True ecofriendly homes should be created from materials that are either recycled or at least are not made from fossil fuels. Ecofriendly homes are about reducing waste making better use of space and keeping things clean. Reduce reuse recycle is the mantra of the ecofriendly home builder.
Green Building Techniques
In fact even the building techniques used to make a home can be easier on the environment. Builders are starting to think about building homes on fewer square feet of land more earth left for plants to grow and even including roof top gardens that help to insulate the home while making more room for carbon monoxideloving oxygenproducing plants to grow. That is an example of what it truly means to “go green” with ecofriendly homes. Even small things like building the home in a south facing position can help to make better use of natural sunlight which can help the home to be more energy efficient.
Ecofriendly Building Materials
Building materials that do not result in deforestation of the earth especially the delicate rain forests also help make ecofriendly homes. This can be anything from reclaimed wood that comes from river beds standing dead wood or even from buildings or homes that are being torn down. So long as no living tree was cut down to build a home that home is more ecofriendly. Mud stones and even straw are natural building materials that are commonly being used in ecofriendly homes along with renewable resources like bamboo. Nowadays many types of products are being made from bamboo a member of the grass family from flooring to cabinets to wall coverings.
Energy Efficiency
Of course energy efficiency is an important part of ecofriendly homes. A wellinsulated home with low E glass double glazed windows will help save energy and adding solar panels can help you create energy. Some ecofriendly homes even add power into the power grid and make money back from the electric companies by using solar or wind power. And adding solar panels to a home isn’t nearly as expensive as it used to be you can even make your own solar panels with simple instructions and a kit that you can purchase. Some choose to heat their water with solar panel thereby reducing their need for gas or electricity.
Making the Earth a Better Place
More and more people are realizing the importance and benefits of creating ecofriendly homes to better manage the earth’s natural resources so it can be a better place for future generations. More homes are being built with green building materials and techniques and people are even taking steps to make their current homes more environmentally sound. As building ecofriendly homes becomes more popular these techniques will likely become more commonplace and actually become the standard for the home building industry. Meanwhile a people who are looking to purchase or build a new homes should seriously consider “going green” with ecofriendly homes.
If you want to search for Santa Cruz ecofriendly homes or find out where the most energy efficient homes in Santa Cruz are go to PropertyInSantaCruz.com and find yourself a great home by the beach.
About the writer: Gregg Camp is an experienced Santa Cruz real estate agent who has spent more than 20 years working in the beautiful Santa Cruz real estate market. Find homes for sale in the area by visiting http://www.propertyinsantacruz.com
What Is A Real Estate Indemnity Agreement And How Does It Work?
While a real estate indemnity agreement may have a scary or intimidating sounding name it is a very common and very simple type of legal agreement. With a real estate indemnity agreement one party is pledging to protect another from any kind of financial loss or from a lawsuit of some kind. We often hear about an indemnity agreement when we are filling out our car insurance forms but this type of agreement is commonplace in most other forms of law. Lets take a look at how a real estate indemnity agreement can be used to protect a vulnerable party.
When it comes to buying real estate many of us understand that finding the perfect piece of property is almost always impossible. No matter how perfect the home or property there are other issues that could make the property difficult to sell or even dangerous. That’s why we have real estate indemnity agreements. With a real estate indemnity agreement one party usually the buyer agrees to take full responsibility for a mistake or a problem caused by the other. Lets look at an example or two.
Let’s say that you have agreed to buy a home that was recently repaired due to an accident that was caused by the sellers own hand. It could be that the seller had an accident and drove his car into the living room picture window and there was serious damage to the home. By singing an indemnity agreement you agree that any further problems with the home even if the problem were to cause harm to a third party that you will take responsibly for it not the seller. This type of agreement absolves the original party in this case the seller from any further legal problems.
Another example would be if you bought a piece of land that had a toxic spill on it due to an accident caused by the seller. By signing a real estate indemnity agreement you agree that any future law suits filed by anyone for any reason over what happened to that piece of land are now your responsibility. So lets say you built an apartment building on that piece of land and 20 years from now people are sick because the toxic spill wasn’t cleaned up properly. You would be the person legally responsible for the issue here not the person who actually caused the problem in the first place.
While these types of agreements are obviously difficult to analyze or sign they are considered very basic legal forms if you are buying a problem property for a price well below average. Many times the best deals in the world of real estate come with problems and a real estate indemnity form will be a required part of buying that piece of property. The best advice is to have any problem piece of property analyzed as best you can before you sign on the dotted line.
About the writer: Michael Warner is a Legal Research Analyst for RealDealDocs.com. RealDealDocs gives you insider access to millions of legal documents drafted by the top law firms in the US. Search over 10 million Documents Clauses and Legal Agreements for Free at http://www.RealDealDocs.com
What Do Lenders Look For When Qualifying Someone For A Loan?
The information you are about to read will give you some insider knowledge that will help you understand how the mortgage industry operates and will help you avoid making costly mistakes that you could end up paying for years to come. It is my hope that this report will provide some insight that will enable you to make better decisions when it comes to choosing between the many different mortgage programs available today.
First you need to understand the basic requirements that lenders look for when qualifying and individual for a loan.
First they will want to know what is you ability or capacity to pay back this loan.
Think about it this way if a friend or family member asked you to borrow some money you would want to know that they would be able to pay you back and within a timely fashion.
So you would start asking questions such as do you have a job? How long have you been on your job lenders want to see stability such as at least 2 years of verifiable job history. Then how much do you make? Lenders want to see that there is enough disposable income to take care of more than just the basic necessities.
By asking these questions and verifying it you would be able to determine if the borrower could afford to pay the loan back to you whether as installments or a lump sum and when.
Lenders are no different. They will ask for your income and a list of your debts by collecting this information this will allow them to figure out how much you can afford and at what monthly payment. Because some people are paid weekly some biweekly semimonthly or monthly such as those on Social Security Income.
Since bills are paid on a monthly basis lenders will calculate your income on monthly and divide it by your total monthly debt or expenses to get what is known as you debttoincome ratio as a percentage.
Traditional lenders like to see this DebttoIncome Ratio D/R as 28/36. A high D/R means that you have a large percentage of debt compared to your actual income and it will be more difficult for you to pay an additional monthly payment than it would for someone with a low D/R.
The second thing the lenders want to know is what is you ability to pay back this loan? This is why they will request to see a trimerge credit report. This will tell them your demonstrated payment history of your current and or past debts. Modern credit reports calculate the amount of credit you have accumulated how much of it you are using Are all your credit cards maxed out? and whether you have paid the required payments on time.
They summarize all of these factors in a Credit Score sometimes known as a FICO Score which predicts the likelihood that you will default on a loan.
Note: a word about your credit. Many people learn in the process of seeking a mortgage loan that their credit needs attention. It is recommended that you check you credit at least once per year as to catch errors that could be harmful to your credit and cost you thousands of dollars in interest payments.
Many credit cards companies now provide this information complimentary but if you credit card doesn’t do so you can request a free annual report from each of the major credit bureaus such as Equifax Trans Union and Experian. It is important to get all 3 as that what lenders look at and nowadays you are able to get all 3 scores as well for a nominal charge.
The third thing the lender wants to know is “How much interest should I charge?” This is determined by the degree of Risk. Someone with a low credit score and a high D/R is a greater risk of not paying than someone with a high credit score and a low D/R. To offset higher risk lenders charge a higher rate.
Another risk factor lies in the amount being borrowed compared to the value of the property. In other words if you default on the loan how easily will it be for the lender to recoup their funds. A mortgage places a lien on your property in the amount of the mortgage so if you default the lender can foreclose and sell the property to get his money back.
This is why traditionally; loans that total more than 80 of the property value will require the borrower to take out PMI Private Mortgage Insurance. Most people get this type of insurance confused and assume that it protects them if they can’t make their payment but instead this is the type of insurance that protects the lender for any amount of the loan in excess of 80 of the property value if they ever have to foreclose.
It is also why loans of 100 or even 125 of the property value charge significantly higher interest rates to offset the greater risk.
About the writer: Gary Nelson is currently positioned as marketing representative for ListingVUE.com and has an extensive background in real estate marketing and online advertising. For more info please visit www.ListingVUE.com