We continued looking for ways to seal a house properly BEFORE insulating. If I can summarize a few ideas that stood out for me. "Put a lid on it" says it all. By stopping the airflow escaping through the top of the house, by proper sealing and insulation, one can control the amount of unconditioned (unheated or uncooled air) exterior air from entering the home. A law of physics dictates, one CFM in = one CFM out. In other words, if a leak under a door brings in a cubic foot of exterior air, that same amount of air will leave your home. The air you just paid to heat! That makes a whole lot more sense to me than being yelled at "Were you born in a barn?!" when I left a door open as a child.
Another eye opener, fiberglass insulation batting is the least desirable of choices given that it often shifts, is installed improperly, and often has gaps.
Dave Hutchins from Energy Trust taught the class, and has years of field experience. He gave me a few company names who he feels does exceptional work carrying out a customized Home Performance Review. They are Trade Ally contractors, so they can do both the review (which I hear can cost several hundred dollars) and/or the recommended work. Please give me a call if you're interested, I'd be happy to share.
Sharing the "Thanks"
I recently received the most lovely thank you letter from Barbara Hoven Hafdahl, the volunteer coordinator at the Parry Center. It's not just a thank you for me, but for everybody that was able to donate towards the childrens holiday party. It's such a wonderful program to support- in fact I just finished buying lots of little children's undies with some donations that came in a bit later. Please read it- it's sure to make you a little verklempt. If you weren't able to be a part of the giving last year, I'll definitely let you know in time for this coming holiday. Thank you for all your support!
The "Wall of Shame"
Years ago I went bowling with my children and three sisters in Nashville, where my sister Norma Jeanne was living at the time. NJ and her partner had a fun way of dealing with gutter balls and other horribly and embarassingly bowled frames- you were pointed towards the "wall of shame"- a nearby wall in the bowling alley, upon which you would place your head for a moment (think dunce cap). This seemed to provoke everyone that didn't laugh the first time at your clumsy ball toss, including yourself, to laugh all over again. When you came back to the lane, it was all behind you, and the next frame you could begin anew.
Beginning anew is what I would like to do after my second "Home IQ" class, sponsored by Energy Trust. The class is a five part series, two hours a week, that firstly, helps assess ones current energy use, then teaches what changes and improvements can be made with an existing home, an existing budget, and existing habits to save energy.
I've been to several classes on new Earth Advantage and LEED homes. and these homes minimally exceed current code by 15%- with substantial energy savings, but most of us need to work with what we have. And after all we are "re-using" an existing home, which is a good thing, right? So why did I have a premonition I was not going to score well on our home's energy use?
For one thing, we had an extremely inefficient electric radiant heating system, which I'm sure was the cat's meow in 1950, but was costing us a fortune every month, and still we were freezing, running around with space heaters before company came over to keep the frost off their noses in the winter months. Although this was the winter we changed it out- to an efficient system with a heat pump- why is our energy use still so high?
Here's where the "wall of shame" comes in-this chart shows our classes current energy use in therms (natural gas use), killowat hours (electric use), and then both converted to show our total energy use in BTU's. Although our home did fine in therms, compared to the rest of the class attendees, our electricity use was abysmal, my premonition proving true. There was some solace having more square footage than most to heat, but a fellow classmate's home was virtually the same size and used 82 million less BTU's a year less last year than we did. A waste of money and power.
I went home in quite a state and showed my husband J the numbers. Last week he killed (turned off) our hot tub. Is my blow dryer the next to go? Stay tuned and see how we can bring these numbers around. I'm using a tool called the Kill-O-Watt that measures the power usage of our appliances, computers, even phantom power usage. In the meantime, I do feel a little better now that I've confessed.
If you would like to take elements of the class with me, here is the the home-energy-tracking-sheet, where you can make your own calculations. It's quite easy to sign on to your account at PGE or NW Natural Gas and see your past years energy use.
Interesting Fact: Heat does not rise- it does follow cold. Imagine, with the proper sealing and insulation in your attic, or walls how less likely your heat is to follow the cold up into the attic, or outside.
Our Weekend Mural Project
After spending the holidays in the Bay Area, with J's very creative family (see Wertzateria), we come back to Portland determined to have a little more fun with our home's decor. Buying a Wallpaper magazine at the airport, I'm drawn to a picture of a mural in an asian restaurant. We've left a dining room wall bare since we moved into our home. We love our lighting and don't want to detract attention from that. Could a mural be the solution?
Easy for me to come up with ideas- but having an artist in the house who can actually realize them, is the best of all worlds.
Within a week, J had produced a similar design on his Mac, and after projecting the image on the wall, "we"-the Queens "we"- made a few changes in proportions. J traced out the design, and after playing around with some paint color variations, we decided on a dilution of five parts white, to one part of the existing wall color, to produce what I would call a "shadow" of the asian inspired design.
Once the design was traced and the color chosen, it took us a few easy hours of painting in the lines- and we were done. Our next project is converting one of our kids rooms into a guest room. We're looking forward to having some fun with that project as well.
More pictures of the mural process.
Weekly "Ninja" Meeting
We are "ninjas". As I mentioned in my bio, a small group of colleagues and I meet every Wednesday morning at my office, sharing our wisdom and experience. Why "ninjas?" The name is silly, even if our business is not. It's modeled after a real estate company in Ft. Collins, Colorado, which I visited several years ago. Rather than compete within their office, they share knowledge, as mastery of the profession is one of their main goals. Mastery makes, to the outside eye, a transaction look easy. Effortless, like a ninja.
Whether the name make sense or not, the time I spend is invaluable. One of the topics we covered today was how important it is to include even obvious appliances, and fixtures into the purchase contract. While fixtures are supposed to be part of the sale, what constitutes a fixture? A chandelier? Yes, but what if it's not hard wired, and hanging by a hook? Custom mirrors- are they attached or hung? What constitutes the "sound system" that is advertised in the listing- the wiring in the walls, or the components as well? These issues may turn an otherwise cooperative relationship between the buyer and seller, into one of disappointment and contention.
Being pro-active when writing a purchase agreement is one way of making a transaction look easy.
A disclaimer- while I follow the ninja model, and that may bring higher expectations of me, do not expect any ninja wardrobe.
Energy Trust Free Home Energy Review
As part of my commitment to get our 1950's home on the path towards energy conservation, we just had a Home Energy Review performed by the independent, non-profit organization, known as Energy Trust. Of course we knew our single pane windows leak like sieves, but what else could be a cause of energy loss? One of the least expensive things we were told to do was to upgrade the insulation in the attic. Over time the insulation had been removed from some areas, and it was also greatly under insulated. The advisor figured we are at about R-18 or less and ideally should be around R-38. Energy Trust offers cash incentives for and array of energy saving improvements including our insulation project.
As part of their effort to create an immediate change in power usage, they left us with eight CFL bulbs, and offered to install two high performance shower heads (apparently a big improvement over the "low flow" ones from a few years back), for free. We've been slowly changing out our traditional light bulbs, so this is a big boost towards going green.
In the end, the advisor told us, (rather in the Southern manner of adding "bless your heart" after saying something a bit harsh) that our home was rather like "an old sweater with holes in it". Multiple energy leaks, and struggling to keep us warm. Our next step will be Home Performance Testing, a three to four hour review.
Strangely, I'm kind of looking forward to it. We don't have to do everything at once. Just baby steps, one at a time. I'll let you know how our 1950's "old sweater" holds up.
The December Portland Market
We have the latest sales figures in from our RMLS (regional multiple listing service), which I will be sharing with you monthly. Called the "Market Action", this report is often quoted from in the Oregonian, but usually not shown in its totality. Sales are down just over 30% from this time last year, and we have 14 months of inventory on the market, with an average of 122 DOM (days on market). If you bought in the last few years, and have to sell, obviously this is not good news.
The good news is, if you're a buyer, the rates are historically low- prices, desirable neighborhoods, and a large inventory are more within your reach. If you are a seller who is buying up, you will come out ahead. Say prices have gone down an average of 10% in the Portland area. Your house is now worth $300,000. Perhaps a year ago you could have sold for $330,000. You have a "loss" of $30,000. The home you would like to buy, assuming that is properly priced for todays market at $500,000, is selling at $50,000 less than it could have a year or so ago. In this situation, the same discounted sales price works to buyers favor.
People ask me often what I think about the market, or are surprised when I tell them that last year was my best year in real estate. One of the truths of this or any market, is this- people continue to have children and need to upsize, or downsize, move, get married, and any number of human situations that require a move. My job is to help people navigate their home needs successfully, no matter what the market is doing, and with my listing DOM last year averaging at 43 days, I would say my clients are doing just fine.
Food Rock Star Visits Portland
"Good food is like pornography, you know it when you see it," is how Michael Pollan opened up his lecture last night at the Schnitz as part of the Arts and Lecture series. Mr. Pollan, bestselling author of The Omnivores Dilemna, and most recently, In Defense of Food, spoke of American's susceptibility to food fads, unsupported "facts" and dietary guidelines eased into place by good old American marketing and industrial lobbyists. On the face of it, it's surprising that these rather humorless topics can draw in a sell-out crowd, but both Mr. Pollan's speaking and writing are based on genuinely interesting research and a witty style and presentation that often alternates making one think or laugh. He definitely has a mission, but does it without frothing at the mouth. Speaking of which- where does a food guru eat while in Portland? Yesterday, lunch was with Greg Higgins at Higgins Restaurant.
Street of Eames
Portland mid-century design fans are marking their calenders for the fourth annual Street of Eames home tour on April 18th. A fund raiser for Project Return, providing school stability for children experiencing homeless situations, the Street of Eames has been a huge hit in Portland, raising $117,000 on the 2008 tour and selling out of tickets in less than an hour. Tickets this year go on sale mid February. As a 1950's homeowner, I must admit to my heart beating faster at the thought of walking through some of the most interesting mid-century homes in our city, gathering ideas for my own home, lusting after original architectural features, and enjoying being part of the starry eyed, adoring crowd that is the mid-century fan.
You can buy tickets now- at a price, or sign on to their email list and count your lucky stars for landing those sought after tickets.
Holiday at the Parry Center
December is an important month in our house. Hundreds of cookies are baked for a yearly "cookie party". For the second year, I've taken the whole kit and kaboodle on the road; cookies, dozens of bags of icing, sprinkles, and festive tablecloths to the Parry Center.We usually host a party for 40 children on the site, from grade school to high school age, where they can decorate a plate of cookies for themselves or to give as gifts. Along with the cookies, neighbors, friends and family donate an assortment of new pajamas. Much joy and sugar is had by all.
