Right now, our local market is fickle. Many properties are getting multiple offers, but many are staying on the market longer. The median price is up 28% from last year, but down 1.5% from last month. Inventory is down from last year, but up from last month. Call me if you’re thinking about buying or selling and we can discuss the market and timing (cell: 831.246.4663).
Next month, Caltrans is scheduled to begin planting vegetation along the Highway 1/17 merge lanes. Read about this and other stories at my website: www.831.com Just click on NEWSLETTER or BLOG.
Federal Program to Encourage Short Sales
Beginning April 5, the Obama administration will encourage delinquent borrowers to avoid foreclosure and instead give up their homes in short sales by streamlining the process.
The program will offer a cash payment to the home owner, as well as to the servicer and second-lien holder; and protect borrowers from future lender lawsuits for the unpaid mortgage balance.
To curtail fraud, lenders will have to consult real estate practitioners to assess home value and minimum acceptable offer; they then must accept any offer that is equal to or higher than that.
Source: The New York Times, David Streitfeld (03/08/10)
Home Owners Fight Property Tax Increases
Taxpayers in high property-tax states all over the country are fighting back, including packing up and moving to states where the property tax burdens are lower.
They find it particularly galling that tax bills continue to rise as home values decline, a common phenomenon. A recent survey by the National League of Cities reported that 25 percent of municipalities raised property taxes in 2009 to replace declining revenues.
In New Jersey and New York, voters threw incumbents they viewed as tax-and-spend officials out of office. In Michigan, there have been so many tax appeals that the tax court has 24,000 pending cases.
Some observers like Ted Lanzaro, a certified public accountant who handles taxes for clients in Connecticut, predict that people are running out of savings and some are simply going to stop paying taxes.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, M.P. McQueen (03/06/2010)
Fewer Sellers Are Cutting Prices
The prices on 19 percent of homes for sale as of March 1st have been reduced at least once, the lowest percentage in the last year, according to Trulia.com.
In October and November, when the market was feeling the effect of the tax credit, 26 percent of sellers cut their asking prices.
“Better pricing is leading to less time on the market, less price reduction, and in a lot of markets we're starting to see bidding wars on lower end properties," said Ken Shuman, spokesperson for Trulia.
Trulia calculates that these U.S. cities experienced the biggest decline in price reductions from Feb. 1, 2010 to March 1, 2010:
• Charlotte, N.C.
• Colorado Springs, Colo.
• Houston
• Raleigh, N.C.
• Jacksonville, Fla.
• Albuquerque, N.M.
• Tucson
• Omaha, Neb.
• San Antonio, Texas
Source: Trulia.com (03/09/2010)
Mortgage Fraud Investigations Are Climbing
State and federal investigators are cracking down on mortgage scammers, pushing arrests and civil actions to record levels.
MortgageDaily.com tracked 134 mortgage-related lawsuits in the fourth quarter of 2009, an increase of 76 cases compared to the third quarter. There were 46 cases in fourth quarter 2008.
"The upward trend in related fraud litigation is likely to continue," predicted Patrick McManemin, a partner in Patton Boggs, a law firm that specializes in mortgage litigation, because more states are aggressively enforcing related laws.
Source: MortgageDaily.com (03/08/2010)
Graywater irrigation systems
Graywater is defined as all household wastewater except for that which is used in toilets. The amount of graywater that we use is considerable. With only a few modifications to your plumbing and a switch to biodegradable detergents and soaps, graywater can be safely used to water the plants in your garden.
Graywater systems of this type do not require a permit and are legal within the city and county of Santa Cruz.
Graywater systems not only decrease the burden on septic tanks $500 per pumping and leach fields, they also serve to slow the contamination of groundwater and aquifers.
Consider these statistics: 30 to 60 percent of household water is used for landscape irrigation. A top loading washing machine uses 30 to 50 gallons per load while front-loading machine use 10 to 20 gallons per load older models use more water than newer models.
Showers use a minimum of 25 gallons for a 10 minute shower that figure assumes you are using a low flow shower head. Taking a bath uses 30 to 40 gallons. Kitchen sinks use 5 to 15 gallons per person per day and bathroom sinks use 1 to 5 gallons per person per day.
When these numbers are multiplied for a family of five, over a period of a week, we are talking about thousands of gallons of water going to waste.
Additional graywater workshop put on by Mama Earth Matters has been scheduled for March 27. It features Laura Allen of Bay Area Greywater Action.
This workshop is designed to instruct the do-it-yourselfer on how to reroute the water from the household washing machines into the garden.
Even areas that are slightly above the elevation of the washing machine can be irrigated, since washing machines are equipped with a pump that gives the water about a five-foot lift. Laundry-to-landscape systems are a practical and simple first step to using wastewater for irrigation.
For one, diverting laundry water doesn't usually require having to go under the house to redo the plumbing. Most of the time it is only necessary to pull out the washing machine and run one section of ¾-inch PVC outside, to make the necessary adaptations. The other good thing about the laundry-to-landscape system is that it doesn't mandate that everyone in your household must make an immediate switch over to organic soaps and products.
Human nature is such that old habits die slowly and expecting everyone to change overnight is not always workable. If suddenly altering the hygienic habits of your teenage kids or your in-laws seems like a daunting prospect, converting your washing machine discharge might seem a good place to start.
The key components of the laundry-to-landscape system are a diverter valve also called a three-way valve which either sends the water into the existing plumbing, or out into the landscape. Then it is necessary to install an antisiphon valve, which prevents water from being sucked out of your washing machine or running back into it.
Somewhere between the antisiphon valve and the garden, it is suggested that a tee be installed with a female garden hose connection. This enables the occasional flushing of the system to clear it of lint and debris.
The final component is a network of distribution tubes similar to drip systems, which takes the water to the individual plants. Digging water retention basins for larger plants and trees, then mulching are also important steps to this system.
For those rural homes using septic systems, the reasons to install a graywater diversion system are especially compelling. Graywater puts an immense strain on leach fields, and helps to max out your septic tank. Diverting your graywater into your landscape helps alleviate this problem and actually leads to less contamination of groundwater.
In fact, the ecosystem of a mulch basin around a plant makes for a very effective wastewater treatment system. and wastewater is filtered more effectively when released on the surface of the ground rather than under it.
The microbes in the soil convert organic impurities in the wastewater into nutrients, which are then available for uptake by the roots of the plants. The result is water that is purer than what is discharged from a sewage treatment plant.
Backyard Graywater Workshop -- Laundry to Landscape Oasis
WHEN: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 27
Cost: Sliding scale $35-$75
Where: Maha Mandala Homestead, 2591 Mattison Lane, Live Oak
Details: 464-9664
Highway 1/17 Interchange Landscaping to Start
Caltrans next month will begin planting vegetation along the Highway 1/17 Interchange
Details include:
- 3,700 new plants
- 670 trees, two-thirds of which will be native coast redwoods. Other trees include bigleaf maple, Catalina ironwood, Chinese pistache, western hemlock and white alder.
- 1,700 vines will cover both sides of the soundwalls, including Boston ivy and creeping fig.
Shrubs will include western redbud, Catalina cherry, Ray Hartman ceanothus, Pacific wax myrtle, lemonade berry and red escallonia.
- 7 acres will be seeded with native grasses and wildflowers.
SOURCE: Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission
