Is the Sky Falling?

Numbers and words. They were partners in crime long before Scrabble hit the market. These two have been used together to impress, scare, and confuse us ever since we decided to count our pebbles and name our children.

I'm hearing predictions of home prices dropping 3%, 1%, .1%. Or wait, going up 3%-6%. Why the discrepancy? I can tell you why. It's because we don't know. It's also because using a percentage based on Median Home Sale Price to determine your home's value is illogical. This is my opinion, mind you.

The dollar amount where half the homes sold for more and half sold for less is the Median Home Sale Price. This may be useful in determining what price range of homes are selling in your area. For example, if the Median Home Sale price is $120,000 --- this may indicate the market is not there for your $450,000 home. It doesn't mean it is not worth $450,000. It does not mean the value has dropped ---- or increased.

I bring this up because the Median Home Sale Price is often used to show people where the market is at. If your local newspaper tells you home sale prices are down 2%, this scares people into thinking the value of their home is 2% less than it was last year or even yesterday. If your local TV station tells you home sale prices are up 3%, someone may automatically think their home is worth 3% more today than it was in the beginning of the year.

How do you find out the Market Value of your home? Talk to a Realtor about a Comparative Market Analysis. This is an estimate of a home's value compared with other homes. The thing is, you must have the human element involved. Otherwise you are comparing castles to huts. With that in mind, if the sky is falling ---- it's probably with apples and oranges.

Land, Views, and Garages

In today's hectic world, a number of people are looking for some room to breath and relax. This might mean a house on a couple of acres. It might mean mountain views. It might mean a giant detached garage w/ it's own furnace. Sometimes, with a little luck, you can find all of those things in one location .

Housing Shortage or Thought Scarcity?: A Common Sense Proposal

Photo by Roberto Nickson from Pexels With low inventory, BOTH buyers and renters are having a challenging time getting into a home. A solution, one would think, is creating more available homes. A gut reaction would be to build big developments, with large homes or maybe a condo complex. But what if you could build a home on your current property and rent it out? I see small towns around me push back, and a common reason is "parking" . Meanwhile, a quick drive down their streets will show plenty of parking. And get this, the people that would shop in the now almost empty stores in their town wouldn't need to drive there - they would walk. Another pushback I hear is that a new structure will create too much non-permeable space . It's always an interesting thing to hear from a sector that listens and smiles - but does nothing - when I talk about clean water bills, riparian buffers, and other common sense solutions to a healthy local environment. The more I learn a...

Warm Up -- Add Value --- Get Money

Save some big bucks on your heating bill and get $300 credit from the federal government if you install a wood burning fireplace insert by the end of 2011. Read all about it here . You may not be ready to sell now, but when you do --- it's a good idea to have a leg up on your competition. Most people prefer to have an alternative heat source. Many of us found that out over the weekend during the "Halloween Snow Storm".

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