Ultimate Open House


We Must Change Energy Behavior – An MPG Rating for Your Home

February 21, 2010

Filed under: Green, Ulitmate Home Shoppers — uoh @ 4:58 pm

Let’s face it, energy efficiency is not a “sexy” topic that has people jumping to make home improvements. Yet, energy efficiency for homes and buildings is the fastest and least expensive approach available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. With buildings responsible for 76 percent of power plant-generated electricity and roughly half of the carbon emissions in the environment, this sector is a prime place to start.

Needed: a market mechanism

What’s required is a market mechanism that can motivate people to change their energy behavior and make those energy upgrades. An Energy Performance Score (EPS) – like a miles-per-gallon sticker for your home – is one system than can motivate people in several ways, while ensuring a growing awareness of carbon contributions in our environment. How would this work?

Energy and Carbon scores

Qualified energy auditors using specialized software assess your home based on an extensive audit and testing, looking at square footage, windows, heating and cooling equipment, the utility companies you use, and many other factors. The result is an energy scorecard that indicates your score for both energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with operating your home; the lower the score the better, for both categories. The scorecard also indicates where your home stands on a relative scale, in relation to other similar homes in your state or city, or to a similar home built to current code.

The Energy Performance Score, when listed on public databases such as the Multiple Listing Service (MLS) or in city records, serves a number of functions and provides several benefits. First, it offers homebuyers a comparison tool between homes, just like a miles-per-gallon sticker, so buyers will take energy efficiency, lower utility payments, and carbon emissions into consideration when buying a house.

Changing behavior

Second, it provides that motivation for the homeowner to make energy improvements that can increase the value of his or her home and lower the EPS score. The homeowner may also be motivated by seeing what scores other comparable homes have achieved, or simply by wanting to make the home more competitive on the resale market. When coupled with new technologies such as smart meters and home energy use displays, homeowners may seek even greater efficiencies through changes in their everyday habits.

Going forward, the EPS offers an additional benefit. As other related sectors in the industry see increasing use of EPS, the score can become a commonly used metric: for banks to evaluate energy improvement or mortgage loans, for insurance companies to offer lower premiums to greener, more responsible homeowners, and for government agencies to validate the results of retrofit funding.

Equally important, a growing database of EPS scores across multiple regions can provide a carbon emissions baseline for cities that can assist in emissions planning and development of urban growth requirements.

The Energy Performance Score, developed by Energy Trust of Oregon and  conceptualized by Earth Advantage Institute in collaboration with PECI, CSG, and other industry partners, is available for pilot programs in states and municipalities across the U.S. to spur adoption of this vital performance metric.


Costa Pacific Communities wins four national gold awards

January 29, 2010

Filed under: Builder's Corner, Portland Style, Ulitmate Home Shoppers — uoh @ 3:47 am

Costa Pacific Communities was honored by the National Association of Home Builders with four gold awards for its new community, Villebois.  Category wins include Community of the Year, Best Logo, Best Website, and Best Product Design of an Attached Home Plan.

For more information on these awards, visit www.thenationals.com. For more information on Villebois, visit www.villebois.net.


Take Advantage Of The Home Buyers Tax Credit

January 28, 2010

Filed under: Ulitmate Home Shoppers, Your Home Your Money — uoh @ 5:14 pm


Legend Homes wins two national silver awards

January 26, 2010

Filed under: Builder's Corner, Building Science, Green, Portland Style, Ulitmate Home Shoppers — uoh @ 3:53 am

Legend Homes was honored by the National Association of Home Builders with two silver Sales and Marketing Awards for the company’s television and radio advertisements, both designed to promote Legend’s new EarthSmart homes.

The television and radio ads feature L.E.S. (Legend EarthSmart), a talking home that explains Legend’s new goal of creating smaller, affordable homes employing state-of-the-art building practices coupled with the company’s strong focus on energy and resource conservation. The ads were created in conjunction with Art4orm.

To watch the award-winning commercials, go to:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vu_yWKFdc_8


Applying the Home Buyer Tax Credit to Your 2009 Return

January 20, 2010

Filed under: Ulitmate Home Shoppers, Your Home Your Money — uoh @ 5:06 pm

To claim the credit as part of your 2009 return, you will need: The standard Form 1040 and Form 5405 for the home buyer tax credit.

  1. First begin Form 1040.
  2. Be sure to take note of your adjusted gross income, which you enter on lines 37 of the form. Form 5405 actually requires you to note your modified adjusted gross income, but that affects few people, so most will just use their adjusted gross income.
  3. When you come to Line 69 you’ll be asked to enter your tax credit amount. To do that, you’ll need to first complete Form 5405.
  4. Once you complete Form 5405, enter the amount on Line 69, then complete your return.
  5. Attach Form 5405 to your return.

Collecting Your Refund

Any refund for which you qualify will be sent to you.


Tax Credit Expands Home Buyer, Economic Opportunities

January 5, 2010

Filed under: Ulitmate Home Shoppers, Your Home Your Money — uoh @ 5:06 pm

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is spreading the word to consumers about an important new law that extends and expands an attractive tax incentive for potential home buyers.  The Worker, Homeownership, and Business Assistance Act of 2009, signed into law by President Obama on Nov. 6, extends the deadline for the first-time home buyer tax credit and gives a larger group of home buyers the chance to take advantage of this government program.

“The tax credit has already proven to be an effective means of boosting economic activity,” said NAHB Chairman Joe Robson, a home builder from Tulsa, Okla. “We hope that the government’s action to enhance it will have the intended additional stimulative effect that will help get housing and the economy back on solid ground.”

The new law extends the $8,000 first-time home buyer credit through April 30, 2010, giving buyers who have signed a sales contract by that deadline until June 30 to close their deal. A new credit of up to $6,500 was created for repeat home buyers who buy a principal residence if they have been residing in the home they currently own (or previously owned) for five consecutive years out of the eight years preceding the purchase of the new home.

“It’s not just a first-time buyer tax credit anymore,” Robson said. “Move-up buyers, move-down buyers, and others who have previously owned a home can now qualify as well. In fact, close to 70 percent of all potential home buyers should now qualify for some form of the credit.”

Income limits for eligible buyers have also been increased to allow more consumers to qualify, particularly those in markets with a higher cost of living. Now single taxpayers with incomes up to $125,000 and married couples earning up to $225,000 may be eligible. Partial credits are available to home buyers who earn up to $20,000 more than the limits.

A leading source of consumer information on the tax credit is NAHB’s Web site at www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com, which saw a huge increase in visits in the days after the new law was signed. It provides basic information about the first-time and repeat buyer credits, detailed question and answer sections, and links to additional home-buying resources for consumers.

“The federalhousingtaxcredit.com Web site had more than 70,000 visits on the Monday after the President enacted the law,” said Robson. “Since the site was established in mid-2008, there have been more than 6 million visits by people seeking information about the home buyer tax credits. That tells you how hungry consumers are for easy-to-understand information on this great opportunity that has been opened to them.”

NAHB estimates that the home buyer tax credit will create 211,000 jobs and generate 180,000 additional home sales in the coming year. It is also expected to generate $9.6 billion in wage income and $6.9 billion in federal, state and local taxes.


Housing rebound unlikely soon Experts predict ‘tedious’ recovery for Portland area

December 3, 2009

Filed under: Ulitmate Home Shoppers, Your Home Your Money — uoh @ 8:23 pm

By Jon Bell, The Portland Tribune

State economist Tom Potiowsky turned to lyrics from a classic song by The Doors to sum up his outlook Wednesday morning during the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland’s annual housing forecast.

“I’ve been down so long that it looks like up to me,” he said. “It looks like things are getting better, but we’re still at the bottom of the pit.”

The economist’s take on the current state of the state worked equally well on every topic touched at the event, from the unemployment rate and housing starts to job growth and housing permits. Joining Potiowsky as presenters were Jerry Johnson, a local real estate consultant with Johnson Reid LLC and David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Homebuilders.

Both Reid and Crowe echoed Potiowsky’s views. The national recession is over, Crowe said, but because the housing market has dropped off so dramatically and because credit markets are still “healing,” the recovery will not be as strong as those seen after prior recessions.

“It will be a slow, tedious recovery,” Crowe said. “It will still be a recovery, but it will be nowhere near as fast or as comfortable as you’d like to have it.”

Here in Oregon, the recession is either over or just about to be, Potiowsky said. But don’t expect any huge changes in hiring until well into 2010. Employers first need to jettison the furlough days, shift cuts and other measures they’ve put in place to keep their heads above water. The state also has the fifth-highest unemployment rate in the nation – 11.3 percent – and the seventh-slowest rate of job growth.

With all this as backdrop, Potiowsky noted that the housing market in Oregon will continue to remain fragile. Housing starts improved in the second half of 2009 but are still 40 percent below historical averages and aren’t expected to return to those levels until 2015.

He also noted that permit levels, particularly for multifamily housing units, have been hammered as well. For example, the entire state saw only four permits for multifamily housing units in September – and all of those were for duplexes.

Although housing prices in the Portland region have fallen of late, Johnson said the area is still 5 percent above historical trend lines and it appears as if pricing adjustments will have been played out by early 2010. That said, he noted that 23 percent of mortgages in Oregon are now considered “negative equity mortgages,” which means people owe more on their houses than they’re worth.

Some of the more positive news to come out of the presentation included the fact that Portland’s housing inventory levels are down to between two and four months for new homes and between nine and 11 months for all homes. In addition, interest rates are expected to remain low, topping out at 6 percent by 2011.

“We should have a better forecast next year,” Johnson said at the end of the event, “because, again, there is nowhere to go but up.”


Portland area housing prices still looking for a bottom

Filed under: Ulitmate Home Shoppers, Your Home Your Money — uoh @ 7:37 pm

By Ryan Frank, The Oregonian

One year ago, Portland real estate consultant Jerry Johnson stood before a room of home builders anxious to know when housing prices would strike bottom. 
 
About September, he had predicted, a median price of $261,000 would be the market’s bottom. That would have been 14 percent  off the boom-time peak of $302,000. 
 
On Wednesday, Johnson revised his view in a speech to the same home builders. Just slightly. 
 
Home prices, he now believes, will tumble to about $230,000 — down 24 percent from their peak — before climbing out of the recession. “We didn’t expect it would be as bad as it got,” Johnson said after his annual presentation to the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland. 
 
What changed in a year? 
 
Job losses and depressed consumer confidence, Johnson said. 
 
The region lost 60,000 jobs in just one year, sparking a slew of housing market troubles. 
 
People who got pink slips obviously stopped buying. But even people who have jobs, good paying jobs, worry about losing their paychecks. They also put off buying a starter home or moving to a bigger one. 
 
New jobs attract migrants from other regions and states. But with layoffs flying, fewer people have reason to move to town. 
 
“It’s not just the job losses,” Johnson said. “It’s the perception of doom. Those are big, big numbers.” 
 
Johnson was joined by David Crowe,  chief economist at the National Association of Home Builders,  and Tom Potiowsky,  the state government’s chief economist, at the home bulders’ meeting. All three men painted a similar economic and housing market picture. 
 
The market’s bottom, they said, has either arrived or is close at hand. The recovery will, to use Crowe’s words, be slow and tedious. 
 
Johnson said the Portland region doesn’t have a an oversupply of homes on the market.The inventory of unsold homes reached a peak last winter and has generally fallen since then. With tightened supply, Johnson said he expects prices to stabilize. But with the continuing job losses, “you completely chill the absorption pace,” he said. 
 
A rising foreclosure rate isn’t helping . Nearly one in 10 Oregon homeowners was late on at least one mortgage payment this fall, the highest rate on record. 
 
Through October, the region’s median home price was at $245,000, down 19 percent from the peak. Many economists have warned of further price drops of 5 percent to 10 percent into 2010. 
 
Johnson said he expects prices will hit bottom sooner. 
 
Based on Portland’s historic trends, Johnson said homes are about 6 percent overpriced and he expects those losses to wash through the market quickly. 
 
But he cautioned that could change if banks flood the for-sale market with bargain-priced foreclosured homes and the unemployment rate pushes yet higher. 
 
With most of his audience worried about the suburbs, Johnson gave a blunt and brief overview of the condo market (the all caps are his): 
 
“CONDO MARKET DEAD UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.”  


Builders intend to sue Metro over tax

November 13, 2009

Filed under: Builder's Corner, Ulitmate Home Shoppers — uoh @ 5:12 pm

From The Portland Tribune, By Jim Redden, Nov 12, 2009

Future Portland-area plans are threatened by a dispute between regional land-use planners and a large segment of the construction industry.

At issue is a tax imposed on new construction to help local governments plan for building projects.

The construction excise tax was approved in March 2006 by Metro, the elected regional government charged with managing growth in most of the tri-county area. The tax was created to raise $6.3 million to help fund planning in outlying areas that recently had been brought into the urban growth boundary.

The Metro Council voted to renew the tax in June 2009. At that time, the council expanded the purpose of the tax to include planning in already-developed urban centers and transportation corridors.

“Most of the growth is occurring in centers and corridors, and that’s where most of the money is coming from to pay for the planning,” says Robert Liberty, the Metro councilor who chaired the committee that recommended the changes.

But now, the Home Builders Association of Metropolitan Portland has filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court a request for a legal review to overturn the renewal. Organization President David Nielson says the changes undermine the original purpose of the tax. The HBA was part of a coalition of interest groups that negotiated the tax with Metro in 2006.

“The bottom line is, when Metro proposed the tax three years ago, they got support from our industry and others by promising to use the money to fund planning in the expansion areas,” Nielson says. “Anybody should have a problem with the government creating a tax for one thing and then using it for something else.”

But Liberty says he is not sure there are enough votes on the Metro Council to renew the tax only for planning in the expansion areas.

“Only a few hundred homes have been built in the expansion areas in recent years,” Liberty says. “It doesn’t seem fair to make everyone else pay to plan for them.”

Liberty, however, concedes that without the tax, cash-strapped local governments could have a hard time planning for future growth anywhere within the region.

“It could slow everything down,” Liberty says.

Consensus breaks down

The dispute comes at an awkward time for Metro. The organization is working on an initiative called “Making the Greatest Place” that is intended to determine where and how the region will grow in coming decades. The effort is important because up to 1 million more people are expected to move to the seven-county Portland-Vancouver region by 2030 – with as many as 558,500 expected to live within the urban growth boundary.

But Metro Chief Operating Officer Michael Jordan has said the region must raise billions of dollars to pay for the infrastructure improvements needed to accommodate the additional people. In a report released on Sept. 15, Jordan said the region will need to spend $30 billion or more over the next 20 years to maintain and expand its infrastructure. According to Jordan, at least $10 billion in infrastructure funding must be raised through new taxes or by other means.

At the time, Jordan pointed to the construction excise tax as an example of how the region can come together to create new funding sources.

“The excise tax is a model we can follow,” Jordan said of the coalition that recommended it. In addition to members of the construction industry, that coalition included representatives from local governments and environmental organizations.

But now, that consensus no longer exists. The legal challenge asks the court to declare the ordinance renewing the tax invalid and to prevent Metro from collecting it. According to the filing, the renewal violates a law passed by the 2009 Oregon Legislature that prevents Metro and local governments from adopting new construction excise taxes. Although the law allows existing taxes to be extended, the filing alleges Metro changed the purpose of the tax too much.

But Metro Deputy Attorney Allison Kean Campbell argues that the changes do not violate the law.

“The purpose of the law is the same, planning for growth,” she says.

The challenge was filed on Aug. 7. It has not yet been set for trial.

Need still exists

The disagreement between Metro and the HBA is far different than the harmony that reigned when the tax was first enacted in 2006. At that time, both parties agreed that planning for growth in the so-called expansion areas was a top priority.

State law requires Metro to maintain a 20-year supply of buildable land within the urban growth boundary. From 1998 to 2005, Metro brought more than 23,000 acres of land into the urban growth boundary. But by 2007, less than 15 percent of that land had been developed.

A major obstacle was a lack of money to plan for the growth. State law requires local governments to adopt comprehensive land-use plans for areas to be urbanized. But many of the governments where the land had been added did not have enough planning staff to meet this requirement. As a result, development stalled in 25 specific areas around the region, including the North Bethany area in Washington County, the Bonny Slope area in Multnomah County and the new city of Damascus in Clackamas County.

Realizing the problem, Metro convened a stakeholders committee in 2005 to discuss solutions. Early discussions identified a need for $6.3 million to fund the planning needs in just those areas brought into the urban growth boudary in 2002 and 2005. An excise tax on building permits emerged as the preferred revenue source.

Following the stakeholder meetings, Metro created a Tax Study Committee to finalize the proposal. After three months of study, it recommended the creation of a 0.12 percent tax on the total value of the improvements for which the permit is sought. The committee recommended a flat fee of $12,000 for permits valued above $10 million, and exemptions for permits below $100,000 and for those permits sought for affordable housing projects or by nonprofit organizations.

The tax took effect on July 1, 2006. During the next three years, it raised and distributed around $6.3 million to help complete eight plans and start four others, according to an April 2009 performance review released by Metro. Six other have yet to start.

The tax was scheduled to sunset when it raised $6.3 million. As that time approached, Metro convened an informal advisory committee in April 2009 to consider renewing it. The committee, chaired by Councilor Liberty, met three times and recommended the tax be extended five years.

The committee also recommended that the scope of the planning money be expanded to include existing urban areas, such as urban centers, main streets, transportation corridors, mass transit stations and employment areas. The committee also recommended using the money to help plan the urban reserve areas that Metro is considering to be designated for long-term growth.

Liberty and Nielson agree that the HBA made its objections to expanding the purpose of the tax well known as the discussions unfolded. Nevertheless, the Metro Council approved the revised tax on June 11 of this year. The HBA filed its notice of intent to sue to overturn the tax less than two months later.


Legend Homes Announces End-of-Year Clearance Sale

November 11, 2009

Filed under: Ulitmate Home Shoppers, Your Home Your Money — uoh @ 5:06 pm

Legend end of year saleLegend Homes is having an end of year clearance sale of the existing inventory of new homes.   Prices on 21 homes located in various Legend communities have been further reduced by as much as almost $140,000 from the original asking price.  Additionally, all buyers who close before December 31st, 2009 will receive an $8,000 closing credit.   All homes are covered under a new 10-year warranty plan.

“For home-buyers eligible for the federal government’s first-time buyer credit, this program means as much as $16,000 in additional  savings ,” said Jim Chapman, President of Legend Homes.  “These new homes represent some of the highest quality and most energy efficient homes on the market in the Portland Metro area.  This is a great offer for anyone looking to settle into a new home in time for the holidays.”
Legend Homes is considered the local leader in building affordable high quality, energy efficient homes with artisan appeal.  In the last 40+ years, Legend has built and sold more than 12,000 homes and homesites throughout Oregon.  A recent survey indicates 99% of current Legend homeowners would recommend buying a Legend Home to their friends or families.

The collection of homes represent a wide variety of floorplans, special architectural features and locations.  Sizes range from approximately 1,400 sqft to 2,500 sqft and have received special EarthAdvantage energy efficiency certification.  Many of the homes include designer luxuries such as Brazilian Cherry hardwood floors, slab granite kitchen countertops and stainless steel appliances.  Most floorplans include vaulted master suites with spacious walk-in closets.  Fenced backyards and irrigated landscaping are additional move-in ready amenities.

Homes are conveniently located in neighborhoods close to Hillsboro, Tigard, Happy Valley, Wilsonville and Lake Oswego.   Known for unique street-scapes, many Legend communities feature neighborhood parks, greenspaces, walking and nature paths, children’s play structures and sports courts.

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