March 5, 2008
Weekly News Round-Up
Let’s start the morning off with two articles in yesterday’s SF Chron. There was a smallish sidebar mention on page D2 about in-house appraisers, “Deal Bars Lenders from Using Own Appraisers.” Having worked for an independent real estate appraiser years ago, I never could understand the wisdom of allowing banks to have their own staff of appraisers. What better way to make a house appraise at a price conducive to a loan? A loan they will probably later sell anyway. Not such a good idea in my book, so this is a long time coming. For a more in-depth article on this subject, you can check out the NYTimes story “Fannie, Freddie Agree to New Appraisal Standards.”
Second is the report that fixed mortgages will decline yet again, as pronounced in “Freddie Mac Predicts Mortgage Rates Will Dive This Year.” The subtitle gives us hope and sadness at the same time: Company forecasts U.S. 30-year fixed mortgages will dip to an average of 5.5% for 2008—but won’t spur market recovery. I do like the notion of 5.5%, since I am thinking about refinancing, but I’d rather see the market recover, in all honesty.
The NYTimes has a cool interactive map of the U.S., designed to give you general home prices across the nation and how they have performed over the last 20 years. Charlotte (NC), Portland, and even Seattle seems to be faring pretty well, Tampa and Miami appear to be hardest hit among those cities listed, while Phoenix and Las Vegas had huge upspikes in 2004, ‘05 and ‘06, that are now plunging. By scanning over the map you can see the graph change and are so much more aware of how things have come and gone.
And just as I am in the planning stages of a kitchen renovation, Seeking Alpha has to burst my bubble (and try to dash my hopes of granite countertops) by giving us “Homeowners Feel the Pain of Over-Improvement Syndrome.” Tom Iacono makes a great case to delay any improvements, and to make many homeowners rue the ones already done.
Over at Orange County Sweet Digs, Julie Lance wrote a nice piece titled “Tips for Home Buyers: Just Chill Out for a Minute.” If you are in the market, check out the wisdom set down in helpful bullet points. And if you are in the mood for a chuckle, Carol Hian of San Diego Sweet Digs wrote a post on “If A House Could Talk.”
On a final note. if the US housing crisis has got you thinking about moving, you might want to consider the suburbs in Sydney, Australia. I hear they have been in a real estate slide since 2004, and prices are down 40%. Change of scenery at a bargain!
Recent Sweet Digs Posts:
Oakland Price Reductions: Focus on Crocker Highlands
Nikolai said:
about over-improvement … I admit I am very biased since I’ve just completed renovations of a kitchen and two bathrooms, and, yes, with granite countertops in all. Two points:
1) you can improve your home for the next owner or for yourself or ideally for both. Depending on the length of the time you plan to stay, you can consider the part of the cost of your improvements to be the price of enjoyment. It’d be nice to get 100% of that cost back in the increase of home value, but even in the good times, it wasn’t possible to prove it precisely - you’d have to have two identical houses sell at the same time, one with improvements, the other without
2) granite counters are commonly believed to be very expensive. But the pre-fabricated granite (same stone, just cut to standard depth in parts of the world where labor is cheaper) is a very good deal. For a small kitchen the difference in bids I got was $5,500 for traditional granite vs $2,200 for pre-fabricated granite (which I went with). Perhaps this will help your personal project planning
March 5, 2008 10:33 AM
susan.brady said:
thank you for the words of wisdom, Nikolai. I think we probably will be moving ahead with renovations, as I spend an inordinate amount of time in the kitchen. But I will be exploring other types of counters to replace the tile I currently have. I appreciate the information on the prefab granite.
March 5, 2008 10:39 AM
David said:
I predict in 10 years granite will be the Formica of yesteryear, and tile counters will be “in.” Especially retro ones from the 40’s.
March 5, 2008 11:03 AM
susan.brady said:
that’s hilarious David. Right now my kitchen has a retro diner feel, with black and white tile. But it has not held up well (it’s only 13 years old), and should be replaced. If I were staying here for a long time, I’d go with an industrial kitchen, which would be most practical with all the cooking, baking and canning I do. But my guess is that it wouldn’t sell real well.
March 5, 2008 11:20 AM
david gordon said:
HA! David, my friends and I had the EXACT conversation a few weeks ago and I said the EXACT same thing - granite is quickly becoming the new formica. I love it when I see $1M+ listings touting these “high-end” granite counters. Don’t get me wrong, some are nice, but they are a dime a dozen nowadays, and as Nikolai said, cheaper versions where 99% of buyers cannot tell the diference are readily available.
Nice topic, Susan.
March 5, 2008 2:59 PM
David said:
Love black&white tile.
Actually, I do like the countertop tile, unless it’s in a really garish color scheme. The house I rent now has nice pale yellow tile with blue trim–and it’s in good condition. Have to say in my experience tile’s also much more durable than laminate (makes me wonder what made people switch in the 60’s/70’s to laminate–must have been the drugs).
Can’t say the same about the horrid linoleum floor, but it’s a cheap rental:)
March 6, 2008 8:51 AM
pop said:
To answer David’s question, here’s a theory about why the 70s move to laminate: any single sheet surface is easier to wipe clean than tiles separated by grout. Not sure if this is true or just a perception, but a single sheet surface, whether 70s laminate or 90s granite, appears also to be more sanitary as there are no separations to suck in crumbs and food bits.
But no question that our laminate surface, clearly from the 70s, has had its “finish” scrubbed away in places, gains accidental knife scratches out of nowhere, and looks well past expiration date.
One wonders where to go next… concrete? Tile but curse at the bits in the grout? Wood or bamboo butcher block? Can’t bring ourselves to consider granite after so many unappealing open home examples.
March 6, 2008 2:25 PM
David said:
I think there are some modern tiles that have better sealed grout (and less curve upward in the tile) so that it’s easier to clean.
I don’t hate granite; I just think like all trends, it’ll play out in the near future. I think concrete-like materials will be the next ‘in’ thing–not real concrete, because that’s a pain to pour, finish and clean, but some other smooth solid surface that has a less pronounced pattern than granite.
March 6, 2008 10:29 PM
Andre said:
Heaven knows whether it’s a good idea financially, but my wife and I have embarked on a project to renovate our kitchen in West London using reclaimed English Rose Kitchen aluminium units from the 50s.
It’s going to look amazing when it’s finished, but I admit we’ll have to look hard to find the right buyer when the time comes.
Anyway, to lighten the atmosphere I’ve been blogging the whole story at http://www.englishrosekitchen.co.uk - we’re looking for comments and advice from anyone with experience in the field.
July 20, 2008 4:44 AM
susan.brady said:
Andre
Quite an ambitious project and I love it! Gotta get some better pictures up though. I want to see every detail as you go along.
July 21, 2008 8:10 AM