According to the latest Zillow Real Estate Market Reports, home values in Portland decreased 11.0% in the second quarter of 2009, compared to the second quarter of 2008.  Nationally, home values decreased 12.1% during this same period.

Concerning a prelisting appraisal…

This interesting article was published in a recent real estate magazine by Paul Pastore.
Published on Friday, July 24, 2009,

One of the benefits of obtaining a prelisting appraisal is to verify the square footage and avoid embarrassing and costly mistakes that cause deals to vanish and attorney’s to appear out of thin air.

For decades, I have asked sellers to obtain an independent appraisal at their expense as part of the listing due diligence. It is also a litmus test to see if the seller is ‘serious about selling’ and willing to invest some funds, and divest some ego from the pricing process.

Recently, I listed a two story basement home that the owner said was 5800 sq ft. The tax assessor confirmed this figure, and it was listed on a prior MLS plano. The seller was reluctant (too cheap & smug) to obtain an appraisal. The property eventually sold and appraised about 100k below the list price and 75k below the contract price.

The seller was certain his prized possession would appraise for “At least 500k”. He told the buyer and both agents that he felt the property was “Lucky”. This is one of the reasons Feng Shui drives me crazy. Lucky is a great name for a dog or a cigarette, but not a property.

The appraiser said this ‘lucky’ property had 4976 sq ft not the 5800 the seller claimed. Once again, real estate confronts reality. The buyer did not want to pay above appraisal and went looking for another home. The seller is considering an independent appraisal in hopes of justifying his elevated expectations.

Years ago I read about a lawsuit where the buyer successfully sued the seller because the house he purchased had more square feet than was stated. Most buyers would be elated to get more for their money; but, not this buyer. His attorney alleged the buyer would have more taxes to pay, higher utility bills, and higher insurance premiums. The judge agreed with the plaintiff.

There are dozens of great reasons to obtain prelisting appraisals. Avoiding the ‘shrinking house syndrome’ is one of them. Staying away from litigious buyers is another.

Cleaning your home shouldn’t involve wholesale destruction of our environment.  This amazing article was written by James Glave, Cyberhomes Contributor
Published: July 10, 2009.  So directly related to my favorite subject, Indoor Air Quality!

Shortly after the Second World War, America decided that the old ways of cleaning house simply weren’t cutting it anymore. With the availability of new chemicals and the advent of television marketing, a vision of a new clean emerged — an ever-whiter-and-brighter, utterly flawless, 100-percent-sterile spic-and-span kitchen and bath utopia.

The problem: The dream called for frequent and generous applications of chlorine, ammonia, lye and phosphates. Sometimes, when push came to shove, it demanded acetone, formaldeyde and phosphoric acid. Household-cleaner manufacturers didn’t and largely still don’t list these ingredients on their labels — some states are only now starting to require them to do so — but to ease any potential concern, they marketed their potions with bright colors and reassuring fragrances such as “mountain forest.”

There are many good reasons to now revisit this toxic dream and start thinking a little more green. The environmental legal group EarthJustice has exposed links between chemicals found in common household cleaners and respiratory irritation, asthma and allergies. Then there’s the aquatic and marine life to consider, which marinates in our happy-housewife cocktail at the far end of your pipe.

Myriad effective yet vastly more responsible green cleaning options now exist. Brands such as Seventh Generation, Ecover and 365 — the Whole Foods private label — offer cleaning products largely derived from plant-based sources. And America is taking notice; some of these companies report 40 percent annual growth. However, even the all-natural bucket-and-mop brigade sometimes has its challenges.

This recently came to light when the Organic Consumers Association watchdog group released test results revealing measurable levels of the carcinogen 1,4-dioxane in cleaners made by popular “natural” brands. Those companies quickly reformulated to remove the offending compound — a previously undisclosed byproduct of the process used to transform plant oils into grease cutters. But despite the minimal price premiums these products demand over their neon-hued brethren, and odd missteps like the 1,4-dioxane goof, you’re still doing better for all of us if you choose a green cleaning product at the store.

Put your hands together for acetic acid and sodium bicarbonate, more commonly known as vinegar and baking soda. While neither will kill bacteria, they will take care of most household grime without requiring you to hang an OSHA safety card on the laundry-room cupboard. Add water and use baking soda (about $2 a box) as a paste; vinegar (also about $2 for a bottle) works as a straight solution. And by the way, before you go calling us purists, it’s OK to use diluted bleach occasionally where disinfection is needed.

I found this interesting article in Greenzine written on July 13th, 2009 by Jeff McIntire-Strasburg

The House’s passage of Waxman-Markey (aka the American Clean Energy and Security Act) isn’t just a step forward in moving the United States away from addiction to fossil fuels, and towards a cleaner energy economy; it’s also evidence that President Barack Obama plans to fight for many of the campaign promises he made on energy and the environment. Candidate Obama laid out a very ambitious and comprehensive approach to energy policy, recognizing that it’s intimately tied to environmental concerns and economic growth and development. Among the policies promoted by the Obama-Biden campaign:

Tackling climate change through implementation of a cap-and-trade system, and making the US a leader on addressing global warming.
Investing in clean energy and energy security (and creating 5 million jobs in the process.
Promoting clean, efficient cars and trucks.
Increasing our commitment to energy efficiency.

So, how’s President Obama doing on energy and efficiency?
In short, not bad. Numerous evaluations on the topic came out around the 100-day mark of his presidency, and most were positive. Dave Burdick of The Huffington Post said the president was off to a good start on securing his legacy as a “green president.” Joseph Romm, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, gave Obama an A+, and noted that historians may regard him as “the green FDR.”

The St. Petersburg Times‘ Politifact.com site keeps a running tally of promises made, and progress on those promises. Among those the president has kept on energy issues:

Weatherizing 1 million low-income homes every year.
Providing grants to encourage energy-efficient building codes.
Enacting a consumer tax credit for plug-in hybrid cars.

Obama’s made progress on promises involving green jobs creation, raising fuel economy standards, and requiring more energy-efficient appliances.

Energy Efficiency: the cheapest, cleanest, fastest energy source
That’s how the Obama-Biden campaign described efficiency in a speech brief on energy policy. Clearly, President Obama is taking many right steps towards leveraging efficiency as a part of broader national energy policy.

Make sure that you let the President, and his Secretary of Energy Steven Chu, know that you approve of such measures, and want to see more. Join Earthjustice and Sundance’s THE UNITED STATES OF EFFICIENCY campaign, and add your name to a letter asking Secretary Chu to adopt “the strongest achievable efficiency standards” as a part of making the US more energy secure. We’re on the track… let’s not get off course!

Image credit: White House photographer Charles Watkins via Wikimedia Commons

By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY

As the recession took hold last year, homelessness shifted toward rural and suburban areas and gripped a growing number of families, the U.S. government reports today.
The number of homeless people receiving shelter, 1.6 million, was largely unchanged from 2007, but the number of those in families rose 9% from about 473,000 to 517,000, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development report. The figures are for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

The number of homeless people in rural and suburban shelters jumped sharply: 32% of all people in shelters compared with 23% in 2007.

“This report dispels the myth that homelessness is exclusively an urban problem,” says HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “Today’s housing crisis is putting particular pressure on families with children who are living in suburbs and rural areas.”

The HUD report is the first with full-year figures for more than one year. It is based on information collected in 222 communities, including one-day tallies of people living on the street and in shelters as well as annual figures on those in shelters or transitional housing.

“We’re seeing early signs of the recession in this report,” says co-author Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor who studies homelessness. Families are more likely than individuals to be affected by the economy because they are more apt to have held jobs, he says.

States on the West Coast — most affected by the foreclosure crisis — have the highest share of their population living on the street or in shelters, Culhane notes.

HUD also released first-quarter 2009 shelter counts for three cities and four regions, finding both increases and declines. In New York City, the number of homeless people in families receiving shelter rose from 28,746 in January to 31,481 in March.

“Since school let out, our shelter requests have increased even more,” says Robert Hess, commissioner of the city’s Department of Homeless Services. Requests are up 40% from last year.

He says the city will soon begin receiving some of its $74 million in federal funding to prevent homelessness by helping people pay rent, utilities and security deposits.