Habitat for Humanity built this house in 3 Hours , 26 Minutes, 14 Seconds.

This is a great site for someone considering purchasing their first home. It has many good tools and discussion guides. Enjoy

NYT: Home Depot Offers Recycling for
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

Some big retailers are promoting compact fluorescent light bulbs as a way to save energy. But improper disposal of the bulbs creates a hazard, because they contain small amounts of mercury.

Recycling them is about to get easier. Home Depot, the nation’s second-largest retailer, will announce on Tuesday that it will take back old compact fluorescents in all 1,973 of its stores in the United States, creating the nation’s most widespread recycling program for the bulbs.

“We kept hearing from the community that there was a little bit of concern about mercury in the C.F.L.’s,” said Ron Jarvis, Home Depot’s senior vice president for environmental innovation, using the industry abbreviation for the bulbs. “And if the C.F.L.’s were in their house, how could they dispose of them?”

Until now, consumers had to seek out local hazardous waste programs or smaller retail chains willing to collect the bulbs for recycling, like Ikea and True Value. Some consumers have waited for retailers like Wal-Mart to have a designated recycling day. Others bought kits to mail the bulbs to a recycling facility.

The Environmental Protection Agency has been looking into putting bulb drop-off boxes at post offices, said Jim Berlow, director of the agency’s hazardous waste minimization and management division.

But those plans are not final, and across most of the country, recycling the bulbs has been inconvenient at best. Industry professionals estimate that the recycling rate is around 2 percent.

Home Depot’s program, which will accept any maker’s bulbs, will bring relatively convenient recycling within reach of most households. Mr. Jarvis estimated that 75 percent of the nation’s homes are within 10 miles of a Home Depot.

“We’re trying to do the right thing,” he said. “Some of the things that we do are for the community and not for the bottom line.”

Both Home Depot and Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, have vigorously promoted the bulbs as part of their commitment to the environment. Wal-Mart announced in October 2006 that it wanted to sell 100 million compact fluorescents by the end of 2007. It surpassed that goal, selling 193 million bulbs to date.

Wal-Mart has accepted expired bulbs at take-back events in particular markets and is exploring how to do it consistently on a national level. Wal-Mart has more than twice the number of United States stores as Home Depot.

The need for a national recycling program became apparent to Home Depot as sales of compact fluorescents, which had been slow compared with sales of incandescent bulb, climbed to 75 million last year, from about 50 million in 2006. And a recycling program is likely to drive even more people to Home Depot.

“We haven’t really had to develop the infrastructure” before now, said Steven Hamburg, interim director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Brown University. “The demand wasn’t there.” But lately, consumers have been getting the message — in stores, from the media and through awareness campaigns — that compact fluorescents use up to 75 percent less energy, last longer and cost less over time than incandescent bulbs.

Mr. Hamburg says the average household reduces its energy budget by $12 to $20 a month using compact fluorescents. Additionally, better technology has made the bulbs’ harsh glow somewhat warmer and softer, though many people still object to it.

More innovations are on the way. Home Depot has plans to introduce more dimmable compact fluorescents within the year. Mr. Hamburg and colleagues at Brown recently developed a box that absorbs mercury — so there would be no need to fret if a bulb breaks in the box.

Mercury is found in other common household items like electronics, appliances and pesticides. Its vapors, however, can harm people and pollute the environment, which is why recycling is encouraged. (In some places it is against the law not to recycle the bulbs.)

“We generally think using these bulbs are over all a good thing for the environment,” said Mr. Berlow of the E.P.A. “The only thing you have to be aware of is the potential for them to break.”

The E.P.A. devotes pages of its Web site to cleanup instructions for broken compact fluorescents. Before even beginning to clean up a spill, consumers are advised to leave the room (along with their pets), open a window and shut off any operating air heating or cooling systems.

That may seem foreboding, but experts see a greater health risk from the mercury emissions produced by coal-burning plants to power less efficient bulbs.

“The avoided mercury emissions are much larger than the mercury we’re using in the bulbs,” said Mr. Hamburg of Brown, referring to compact fluorescents.

Home Depot’s bulbs contain 2.3 to 3.5 milligrams of mercury, which is below the National Electrical Manufacturers Association recommendation of 5 milligrams or fewer. It is a small amount, equivalent to the volume of the steel ball in the tip of a ballpoint pen. “Most people in their home have 1,000 times more mercury literally in their thermostat, let alone thermometers,” Mr. Hamburg said.

This article was taken from the latest issue of The Pennsylvania Realtor:
 

---

Everywhere we look we see the expected rising median house price phenomenon coming to an end. Some never would have predicted it; indeed, for many real estate enthusiasts, housing markets always rose year after year, just like clockwork.  These days there’s a new reality, one which might last for some time, experts predict, and national media reports continue to reflect gloom-and-doom scenarios. But is that the case for Pennsylvania?

In March of this year, U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. gave a speech to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on the state of financial and housing markets. He said:

The housing downturn and the surrounding uncertainty are significantly impacting our financial institutions and capital markets. 

However, we should not lose sight of the fact that this downturn was precipitated by unsustainable home price appreciation which was particularly pronounced in a relatively few regions. A correction was inevitable and the sooner we work through it, with a minimum of disorder, the sooner we will see home values stabilize, more buyers return to the housing market, and housing will again contribute to economic growth. Having stability in housing markets will in turn contribute to better conditions in credit markets for mortgage-backed securities. Data releases each month create headlines about declining housing sales, starts and prices. Yet declines are exactly what we should expect during a correction. It takes time to work through the excess inventory and we are. The question many are asking is how deep the correction will be and how long it will last.... But we do not have a national housing market; housing markets are regional and there is considerable variation in adjustment, with prices changing the most in areas that had the greatest overbuilding.  In making his remarks, Paulson must have been thinking of Pennsylvania. Housing markets in the Commonwealth differ as a whole from those in many other states; within our own regions and counties the results vary even more. If Paulson is correct in that markets vary from region to region, how does Pennsylvania compare with the national averages? The results are interesting and may even surprise the reader. Pennsylvania housing markets appear to be holding their own in terms of price declines, even if they have slowed or have fallen in price a bit compared with many other parts of the country.

PA Median Home Prices Remain Stable

Recent data from PAR indicates that for Pennsylvania as a whole, the annual year-over-year median price change from 2007 Q1 to 2008 Q1 was -1.0 percent. This basic finding is a strong testimonial to the stability and strength found in many of the state’s housing markets, especially compared to more volatile markets which frequently make the media’s headlines. It is clear that median price changes in Pennsylvania housing markets differ significantly from the national figures, since these statistics differ substantially from what’s happening in many other parts of the country –where median average price declines are estimated to be from 5 to 20 percent or more for the year.  Pennsylvania has yet to show steep declines in median prices. Using PAR data from 2007 for Pennsylvania as a whole, the annual year-over-year return was calculated at +20.3 percent for 2004-05, +7.2 percent for 2005-06, and +4.2 percent for 2006-07. This does not mean Pennsylvania’s markets are not correlated with national trends; it is anticipated that Pennsylvania house price changes tend to follow, rather than lead, national price trends.  Over time, the rate of appreciation has fallen significantly and most recent estimates are likely to report some price reductions.

Dr. Jaffe is PAR’s consulting economist. He serves as chair of the Department of Insurance and Real Estate at the Smeal College of Business at Penn State University.

Al Trellis, a national homebuilding consultant explains the definition of value and what things a buyer should consider when purchasing a new home.

Art Herling is the Regional VP for Long & Foster her in the Philadelphia Area. With over 28 years of experience selling to homebuyers, he gives some practical tips about buying today.

More Attractive Interest Rates May Help First-Time Buyers

Months after Congress moved to lower borrowing costs for homeowners in a number of high-priced housing markets, interest rates are finally becoming more attractive on certain types of so-called jumbo mortgages, reports Ruth Simon in today’s WSJ. This may lure more first-time buyers into pricier markets on the East and West coasts, in particular.

Rates on jumbo loans — those bigger than the normal $417,000 limit on mortgages that can be sold to government-sponsored investors Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae — jumped over the past year. That’s because investors, spooked by rising defaults, were reluctant to buy loans that weren’t backed by Fannie, Freddie or the Federal Housing Administration. In some cases, jumbo loans weren’t available at any rate, leaving borrowers in the nation’s most-expensive housing markets in the lurch.

Then in February Congress temporarily raised the ceiling on loans that can be purchased by Fannie and Freddie or insured by the FHA to as much as $729,750 in certain areas. (See a sortable chart of the new conforming loan limits, by county.)

But until just recently the new “jumbo conforming” loans remained relatively high. (Conforming loans are those eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.) Now prices for some jumbo-conforming loans have moved closer to those for similar conforming loans with smaller balances.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate jumbo-conforming loans currently average 6.59%, according to HSH Associates in Pompton Plains, N.J., compared to an average of 6.46% for similar loans with smaller balances. In March, the gap between rates on jumbo-conforming loans and the smaller loans was as much as 0.77 percentage point. Jumbo loans that don’t fall into the new category remain expensive, with rates averaging 7.47%.

At J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., the volume of jumbo-conforming applications has doubled since prices began to fall in early May. For some California lenders, jumbo-conforming loans now account for as much as 25% of applications, says Pete Ogilvie, president of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers.

“It’s definitely addressing a need in the market,” Mr. Ogilvie says, adding that “most of the activity is in purchases, which is nice because it opens up the market for entry-level homes.”

The amount and type of information you need to make a mortgage application depends on
A) the type of loan you want or need, and
B) your financial situation.

Assuming you are considering a full documentation loan and are a salaried or hourly employee, have the following information ready when you make a home mortgage application:

 

• Two recent pay stubs showing your year-to-date income;
• Your most recent W-2, showing your total earnings from the prior year;
• Name, address, phone number, and, if applicable, e-mail address of your current employer;
• If you have been with your current employer less than two years, have the same information on your former employer;
• The last three to six months of your bank or credit union statements;
• If a home purchase, have a copy of your Purchase and Sale Agreement ready;
• Current recurring debt balances and scheduled monthly payment information;
• If you have already examined your credit report and noticed derogatory information of any kind, prepare a letter of explanation (LOE) to submit to your lender concerning this account;
• If using a gift for some of your purchase down payment funds, prepare a "gift letter" showing the source of the gift, the amount, and any information that allows your lender to verify the availability of funds;

There are other items that may be requested by your lender but this collection should be sufficient in most cases to get you approved for a mortgage. Note: If you are an entrepreneur and own your business, you should also have copies (signed) of your last two years federal income tax returns and a current profit and loss statement for your business.

This is a great tutorial on how to set your Thermostat