Temperatures are rising as we head into May, but your energy bill doesn't have to. This classic video from The Weather Channel reminds us that ceiling fans can help to reduce energy bills all year long. The key is to use them properly.

• When the heating system is on, fan blades should rotate clockwise
• When the air conditioning is on, fan blades should rotate counter-clockwise

By changing the ceiling fan's blade rotation, homeowners can push heat back into circulation to warm a room, or create a downward draft to make a room feel cooler. With energy costs at record levels and more increases expected, use your home's ceiling fans to help keep energy bills low and household budgets in check.

Newspaper headlines rarely tell the full story and today's papers provide a terrific example. From the Baltimore Sun (and others):

New-home sales lowest since 1991 8.5% March decline exceeds forecasts; prices also tumble

As always, there's more to the story than the headline.

The Census Bureau reported a 8.5 percent decline in New Home Sales last month, but in the "fine print" of the report, the Census Bureau cites a margin of error of 16.1 percent.

By including a margin of error, the Census Bureau is acknowledging that the "headline number" is not precise and that the actual change in New Home Sales data lies somewhere between the values -24.6% and +7.6%.

Notice that the range of possible reading includes positive numbers.

This means that New Home Sales could have just as easily shown growth in March -- if only the Census Bureau had interviewed a different set of home builders.

The Census Bureau acknowledges this possibility, adding that it "does not have sufficient statistical evidence to conclude that the actual change is different from zero." The data, therefore, is worthless.

The housing market may be strong or the housing market may be weak. Most likely, it is both of these things. It all depends on your street in your neighborhood because all of real estate is local.

Either way, look deeper than the headlines. They're a good source of information, but the real analysis requires a deeper look.

Source New Residential Sales In March 2008 Census.gov April 24, 2008 https://www.census.gov/const/newressales.pdf

 

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  » Norther Virginia Real Estate Blog - News, opinion and statistics about real estate in Fairfax, Loudoun and Arlington.

 

More than 130 million Americans will receive tax rebates this year as part of Congress' $168 billion economic stimulus package. Payments begin in about two weeks and range from $600 for individuals to $1,200 for couples, plus an additional $300 per child. Not everyone is eligible for a full rebate, however. For single filers earning more than $75,000 and joint filers earning more than $150,000, the tax rebate is reduced by $50 for each $1,000 of income beyond the limits. An individual with no children, therefore, will not receive a tax rebate if income exceeds $87,000 annually. The IRS provides a tax rebate calculator that can help make sense of the math. For tax filers using direct deposit, the rebates will be paid based on the last two digits of the social security number:

• SSN ending in 00-20 will arrive May 2
• SSN ending in 21-75 will arrive May 9
• SSN ending in 76-99 will arrive May 16

For tax filers using paper checks instead of direct deposit, payouts begin a little bit later on May 16 and extend through mid-July. The IRS makes the exact dates known on its Web site. For late income tax filers, the IRS send rebate checks about two weeks after the returns are processed, but not before the regularly scheduled date.

The National Association of REALTORS released its Existing Home Sales report for March 2008. An "existing home" is one that is not considered new construction. A sub-headline in the report showed that the median sales price of all homes sold in March increased by 2.5 percent to $200,700. But don't assume that the housing market is improving because of a statistic like that because in the field of Statistics, median is just the "middle" in a group of numbers. With respect to the Existing Home Sales, the median sales price is the price point at which half of all homes sold went for more, and half went for less. If more homes sell in high-priced San Jose, CA than in low-priced Youngstown, OH, for example, the median will be skewed to the high-side. The reverse is true, too. Median sales price make for good headlines, but it does nothing to talk about the local market and that's where real estate is bought and sold. (Image courtesy: New York Times)

As mortgage lenders limit how much money they will lend and to whom, co-signing home loans is growing in popularity. "Co-signing" a home loan is when a third-party -- usually a parent or relative -- promises to make repayments to the bank in the event that the borrower falls behind on his obligations. Money experts usually advise against co-signing notes because of the long-term financial risks, but people still do it for a number of reasons including "wanting to help". If you're thinking about co-signing a home loan for a friend or loved one, it's important to consider the implications of sharing credit with another person. The four questions below may help you with your decision:

1. Why can't the borrower get approved on his own? Is it because of poor credit ratings? Lack of income? History of foreclosure? Hopefully, if you're co-signing for a loved one you already know this, but it doesn't hurt to ask a few questions in order to get the whole story.
2. If the borrower stops paying the mortgage, can you afford to make the full payment due each month? Many people don't think of it this way - but that's really what you're signing up for. Your name is on the note and you are responsible for making the payments if the person you co-signed with can't ... or won't.
3. If the borrower defaults on the mortgage and doesn't notify you, how will a foreclosure on your credit rating impact your family finances? If you do decide to go through with it, it's a good idea to keep up with the mortgage company in order to make sure payments are being made. A foreclosure on your credit history can severely limit your credit rating for many years to come.
4. When the co-signed loan appears on your credit, will the debt load prevent you from getting approved for your own loans in the future?

Not only can a co-signed home loan create serious financial burdens, but it's a long-term commitment, too. Once the note is co-signed, the only way to separate the signers is terminate the note entirely. The two ways to accomplish that are to remortgage the home out of the co-signer's name, or to sell the home and retire the debt. Co-signing on a mortgage is not "bad" but bad things can happen should the primary signer face personal and/or financial difficulties. Before agreeing to share credit, consider the implications should something go wrong. I'm not trying to scare you, or talk you out of co-signing for a home loan with someone. However, given that this situation usually arises when a loved one needs help, it doesn't hurt to throw a little logic and analysis into mix. Many people make these types of decisions solely on an emotional basis ... and they may regret it later when the situation changes.

Radon is the number one cause of lung cancer among non-smokers and 1 out of 15 homes has elevated levels of the radioactive gas seeping into it. Despite the risks, however, radon is a potential problem that many homeowners ignore. Radon can enter a home at many different points. A partial list includes:

• Earth and rock beneath a home
• Joints in construction materials
• Gaps around pipes and wires
• Cracks in flooring and walls

But, because radon is odorless, colorless, and scentless, it's impossible to detect without the use of tools. There are do-it-yourself, at-home radon testing kits which can be purchased at Lowe's for less than $20, or you can hire an EPA-approved professional to site-test for you. If the tests are positive for radon, fixing the problem in your home can cost anywhere from $800 to $2,500, depending on the home's architecture. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, nearly one million homeowners have taken radon-reducing steps in their homes over the years, saving 6,000 lives. Their Consumer's Guide to Radon Reduction provides more information about what radon is and how to mitigate the problem if you find high levels in your home. If you're buying or selling your home, you may also want to have a look at their Home Buyer's and Seller's Guide to Radon. Source My $1,200 Radon Job Gwendolyn Bounds The Wall Street Journal Online https://online.wsj.com/article/SB120855599410427459.html

Absorption Rate is a real estate term for the length of time required to sell all of a given stock in a given area. We can use it to determine how quickly homes are selling in a neighborhood, city, or region. The formula to calculate Absorption Rate is simple. Add up the number of homes on the market, and then divide it by the number of homes taken off the market in the past 30 days because offers were accepted for the sale of those homes. For example, if 500 homes are on the market and 89 of these homes received offers in the past 30 days, the absorption rate is 500/89, or 5.6 months. In generally, the smaller the absorption rate, the more seller-friendly the region.

In the world of real estate, Days On Market is the number of days between when a home lists for sale and when it goes under contract. It is often abbreviated as DOM. Average Days on Market is a similar statistic but instead of applying to one home in particular, it applies to all homes in a given neighborhood, ZIP code, or city. Average DOM is calculated by adding the number of days for which every listed home in an area was available for sale, and then dividing that number by the total number of listings. In a buyer's market, Average Days On Market is often elevated. This is because homes don't sell as fast as during a seller's market when the Average DOM can be quite low. For buyers and sellers of real estate, Average Days On Market can be a strong indicator of home prices. When Average DOM falls, home prices tend to increase.

Credit scoring is becoming more important to mortgage pricing so now would be a terrific time to brush up on your credit education. If you understand how the system works, after all, you can make it work to your advantage. One terrific place to start your research is at myFICO.com. Published by credit scoring powerhouse Equifax, myFICO.com give you information right from the source. There are tens of pages of tips and tricks from which everybody can learn. Gleaned from myFICO.com, here are some basic tips to get you started:

Use It Or Lose It: If you don't use credit, the credit agencies can't assign you a credit score. Spend $10 monthly on your credit cards and then pay it in full to "get on the grid" and get yourself a score. 30 Is The Magic Number: Holding your credit card balances below 30 percent of their respective limits shows an ability to manage credit responsibly. Before consolidating multiple credit cards onto one credit line, consider that card's credit limit. Overload it and the consolidation could hurt your credit score. The Trend Is Your Friend: A track record of paying accounts on-time means that you're likely to continue paying on-time. Credit bureaus like on-time payments. If you've been late, catch up immediately. At 35 percent, this is the largest component of your credit score. History Is The Best Teacher: Don't close unused credit cards. Having a credit "history" accounts for 10 percent of your score.

There are many more tips available at the Web site and with credit score adjustments expected to increase later this year, the best way to protect yourself is to be proactive. Identify potential issues in your credit profile and work to improve them. Credit scoring is not always intuitive so if you're not getting the personal information you need from general Web sites, ask your loan officer for an in-depth analysis. The mortgage rate you save may be your own.

Average gas prices reached an all-time U.S. high Tuesday, touching $3.40 per gallon. San Francisco and Tulsa are the nation's bookends at $3.94 per gallon and $3.11 per gallon, respectively. But before you wonder if relief is coming to your family budget, remember that "rising gas prices" is a conversation we have every April. Using data from gasbuddy.com and looking back to 2004, we can see that gas prices tend to rise during the Spring season. If the pattern holds, we'll should see another 10 percent increase at the pump before gas prices settle back down over the summer and fall months.