Technology TransactionsNovember Round-Up: Rates Remain Low, More Data Online, And The "Segway" Arrives
Mortgage Rates Remain Flat
After nudging up a touch in October, mortgage rates again reached bottom in November. According to Freddie Mac, 30-year fixed-rate loans hit 5.94 percent in mid-November, the lowest rate seen since 1971 and the seventh new low this year. At the same time, 15-year fixed-rate loans could be had for 5.32 percent, another record low, while ARM start rates slipped to 4.09 percent.
In practice, what these rates mean is that even as home prices rise nationwide, ownership remains surprising affordable. Imagine in two markets that you can buy homes with 100 percent financing and that your choices are a $200,000 property at 7.5 percent or a home costing $225,000 with 6.5 percent financing. The first home costs $1,398 a month for principal and interest over 30 years while the second home, the one with the higher price tag, has a monthly P&I cost of $1,422 -- a difference of about $6 a week.
Property Assessments Increasingly Online
Around the country local assessors and property tax offices are placing real estate records online, such items as property size, plot location, assessed valuation, and current taxes.
Probably the most complete list of such sites nationwide has been posted online by Research Ventures, a prospect research consulting firm in Charlottesville, VA.
Such sites carry a growing volume of useful information, but they also raise a question: Are government sites a substitute for the comparative market analysis (CMA) done by your real estate broker?
Tax assessments and CMAs both look at real estate data, each has value, but each product has a different purpose. Tax assessments in different communities nationwide are typically updated every one to three years. A CMA will reflect current sales and a local broker will surely discuss homes now for sale but not yet sold -- homes which nevertheless compete for buyer interest and attention and may impact local pricing patterns.
No less important, a published sale price may not reflect the content of the transaction. For instance, it may well be that government records show two homes which have each "sold" for $400,000 -- but in one sale the owner is paying for a new roof, carpets and a $4,000 credit at closing while in the second sale the property is being sold "as is" with no credits to the purchaser. So here you have two houses with the same published sale price, but as brokers can explain very different results for individual buyers and sellers.
Is A Garage-Space Surplus Looming?
You"ve probably heard about the Segway Human Transporter. It"s a $4,950 device that looks somewhat like a lawn mower and allows one person to move around at a top speed of 12.5 miles per hour. In mid-November, Amazon became the first retailer to offer the machine to the public and initial deliveries are expected next March.
Imagine, for a moment, a world populated with Segways. If even 5 percent of all commuters started segwaying to work the need to build and expand new roads would drop significantly -- as would the need to fund such projects. There would be less gas consumption, less pollution, and far easier parking -- one typical garage space could no doubt hold a gaggle of Segways.
Think about all the trips that are three miles or less -- that"s about a 15-minute ride by Segway, not bad when you consider the traffic-clogged alternatives seen in many communities. And for those in big cities, a Segway can be readily kept in an apartment closet.
Segways will not replace cars, vans, SUVs, busses, trucks, or trains, but they could be an important part of the next transportation mix. Communities in the future might well have Segway paths to local strip centers, schools, and shopping malls, all at far less cost than roads and highways.
Should You Clean Your Ducts?
In the past few years it seems that duct cleaning has become more common, in part because of growing attention to such concerns as household allergies
and mold.
So should you get your ducts cleaned? Maybe yes, maybe no -- here"s what the Environmental Protection Agency has to say:
If no one in your household suffers from allergies or unexplained symptoms or illnesses and if, after a visual inspection of the inside of the ducts, you see no indication that your air ducts are contaminated with large deposits of dust or mold (no musty odor or visible mold growth), having your air ducts cleaned is probably unnecessary.
It is normal for the return registers to get dusty as dust-laden air is pulled through the grate. This does not indicate that your air ducts are contaminated with heavy deposits of dust or debris; the registers can be easily vacuumed or removed and cleaned.
What can you do to hold down household dust? Three ideas from EPA include:
*Use good filters with heating and cooling systems and change them often.
*When having your heating and cooling system maintained or checked for other reasons, be sure to ask the service provider to clean cooling coils
and drain pans.
*Use a high efficiency vacuum (HEPA) cleaner or the highest efficiency filter bags your vacuum cleaner can take. Be aware that vacuuming can actually increase the amount of dust in the air during and after vacuuming process.
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