Flood Insurance Changes Coming Oct 1
Changes are coming to the flood insurance policy sector taking effect October 1st on new policies and April 1, 2022 on any outstanding renewal policies. I will write further as more details are revealed but these are the highlights from the FEMA Risk Rating 2.0 announcement:
1. Flood zones and Elevation Certificates will no longer be a rating factor (Flood zones will still be present for mortgage purposes)
2. Elevation Certificates will no longer be needed to determine rate
3. No more preferred rate tables for X,B,C Flood zones
4. Flood Vents (2 openings on 2 walls on lowest level) will no longer provide significant savings
5. Machinery on ground floor will impact rate (ex:a/c, water heater, washer/dryers)
6. Grandfathering: (more…)
Property Insurance Costs Too Much? 7 Ways to Reduce It
When is the lowest-cost insurer not the lowest-cost insurer? When another company actually charges less because you bundled or installed security or did something else.
NEW YORK – The price of homeowners’ insurance is on the rise, and many owners may be looking for ways to reduce their high premiums. While discounts can vary greatly based on location, size, and age of the house, some credits may be available that could reduce some homeowners’ premiums by as much as thousands of dollars per year, The Wall Street Journal reports.
The average premium for a homeowner’s insurance policy increased 3.1% to $1,249 in 2018, the latest year for which data is available. Luxury homes tend to be much more costly to insure than standard homes since they’re larger and have more decorative features within.
Here are some ways homeowners may be able to save on their homeowners’ insurance costs: (more…)
Is Your Home (and Home Insurance) Ready for Extreme Weather?
Hurricanes. Heat waves. Earthquakes. Tornadoes. Today’s headlines are awash in extreme weather, and whether you blame climate change or just plain bad luck, the simple truth is that the damage from these disasters is impossible to ignore.
Realtor.com® teamed up with HarrisX to conduct a poll of 3,026 adults on their extreme weather concerns and homeowners insurance know-how—and the results suggest that many Americans may be more vulnerable than we think.
Here are some of the key highlights: (more…)
Why Is the Market White Hot? No, It’s Not the Pandemic
Today’s market problems – a shortage of affordable housing, historically tight inventory of homes for sale and rising prices – weren’t caused by the latest pandemic-caused economic slowdown. It goes back to the Great Recession.
Experts say the U.S. housing market was already being roiled by forces fueling the current housing-price explosion even before the pandemic.
Matthew Murphy at New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy said supply shortages were evident heading into the pandemic, adding that “the context here to this current housing moment is that we were still recovering from the 2008-2009 foreclosure crisis.”
Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors® has been pointing to an “underbuilding gap” of between 5.5 and 6.8 million housing units since 2001. (more…)
Smart Home Gadgets to Help Lower Your Utility Bills
Photo by Halfpoint via Shutterstock
When it comes to conserving energy, homeowners wanting to go green often spare no expense. Here are a few ways to upgrade your home without lightening your wallet. (more…)
Pink bathroom – really?
Pink bathrooms became fashionable in the 1950s because pink was Mamie Eisenhower’s favorite color. At one time it was estimated that there were 5 million pink bathrooms in this country, but they faded almost as fast as they arrived. Pink was swapped for woods and neutrals in the ’60s and the retro oranges and greens of the ’70s. The world simply fell out of love with pink.
Today, there is a resurging interest in the pink bathroom—thanks to the revival of mid-century design and millennials’ love affair with all things retro. An intact pink bathroom is now more of an intriguing design challenge than a renovation project, plus it’s a fun selling point for homeowners and renters alike.
Maybe, but a pink bathroom is not something I would choose.
It was a surprise therefore when, earlier this week, I went into my bathroom and to be confronted with this:
But shortly thereafter that wall looked like this:
The culprit? A red towel reflecting the morning sun.
Phew.
Andrew Oliver
Sales Associate | Market Analyst | DomainRealty.com
REALTOR®
Naples, Bonita Springs and Fort Myers
Andrew.Oliver@DomainRealtySales.com
m. 617.834.8205
www.AndrewOliverRealtor.com
www.OliverReportsFL.com
Market Analyst | Team Harborside | teamharborside.com
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
One Essex Street | Marblehead, MA 01945
www.OliverReportsMA.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
31 Life Hacks That Will Change Your Life
If you can ignore the ads some of these SoGoodly 31 Life hacks are really quite useful.
Here are my favourites: (more…)
How to move house safely during coronavirus
A very helpful article from Realtor.com How to move safely during coronavirus.
Here are the headlines:
Checklist: Before you move
-Make sure moving is allowed in your area or building
-Choose car travel over air travel
-Carefully research your movers
-Decluttering? Call ahead if you plan to donate
-Plan ahead if you need to set up new internet or cable service
-Use new cardboard boxes you pack yourself
-Stock up on cleaning supplies for you and your movers
Checklist: On moving day
-Don’t involve more people than necessary
-Time your move carefully
-Disinfect all points of contact
Checklist: After the move
-Wipe down your moving boxes and furniture
-Canceling or changing your move if you’re sick
Andrew Oliver
REALTOR®
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
One Essex Street | Marblehead, MA 01945
m 617.834.8205
www.OliverReports.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Top 5 Dos and Don’ts for Staging a Home
Tips from HGTV’s The Stagers
Top 5 Dos
Top 5 Don’ts.
Andrew Oliver
Market Analyst | Team Harborside | teamharborside.com
REALTOR®
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
One Essex Street | Marblehead, MA 01945
m 617.834.8205
www.OliverReports.com
www.TeamHarborside.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
The Money Pit – the sequel
Remember “The Money Pit”? You know, the 1986 movie with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long, who purchase a supposed bargain of a mansion, which proceeds to collapse under their feet? Well, it turns out that the real-life house from the film has officially lived up to its reputation, selling for a huge loss, according to this Realtor.com article:The Money Pit
The house was purchased by a couple in 2002 for $2.15 million, but they were in for a surprise. “We didn’t realize how bad it was. The house was falling apart when you went from room to room. We definitely could have done the sequel.”
Undismayed, the new owners set out on an expensive renovation – $5.9 million, taking their total investment to $8 million, before listing the house in 2014 for $12.5 million.
That would have been a reasonable return on the $8 million investment – had it sold. But it didn’t. Until recently. For $3.5 million, or a $4.5 million loss. Ouch.OUCH!
According to a local broker: “’The Money Pit’ house selling at a loss has to do with both the size and styling of the house. Buyers are looking for more casual homes and aren’t as interested in large, formal properties. While the house is certainly beautiful, it’s just not the look that many buyers are shopping for.”
And that story has been repeated elsewhere.
“What a beautiful, old-style property,”commented one buyer recently about a 19th Century house. Before going on to buy a modern property; modern both in terms of design – more open concept, fewer formal rooms – and amenities – a smart home, sleek and shiny.
Perhaps the lesson from the Money Pit sequel is that just because you fall in love with an old house and are happy to invest millions in it does not mean that others will share your taste. Or if they do, most likely they are of an age where they are sellers, not buyers of such properties.
Caveat emptor applies to old properties.
Andrew Oliver
Market Analyst | Team Harborside | teamharborside.com
REALTOR®
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
One Essex Street | Marblehead, MA 01945
m 617.834.8205
www.OliverReports.com
www.TeamHarborside.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Roof shingles: cover or strip?
Yes one of the great existential questions of life.
Covering old shingles may be cheaper but roofing experts, quoted in boston.com’s Roof shingles pros and cons say “It is never advisable to shingle over existing shingles.”
Andrew Oliver
Market Analyst | Team Harborside | teamharborside.com
REALTOR®
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
One Essex Street | Marblehead, MA 01945
m 617.834.8205
www.OliverReports.com
www.TeamHarborside.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Are solar panels right for your home?
The Boston Globe recently published Sometimes solar panels are not a good fit for your home , exploring the benefits – and challenges – of solar panels.
The article included this comment:
Matt Dolan, a broker with Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty in Marblehead who has panels on his home, said some developers and homeowners got caught up chasing green building certifications and haven’t been able to recoup their investments.
“People got out too far over their skis with solar and thought anytime you made a green addition to a house that you’d instantly win, and it’s just not the case. A lot of people don’t actually care that much,’’ Dolan said. He pointed to a home that was renovated to LEED Platinum standards a decade ago, complete with solar and geothermal energy. “The reality is it’s a $2 million home that we’re marketing for $1.4 million, because no one is willing to pay an ultra premium just because it has the green credentials.’’
I wrote Solar panels: are they right for you? back in 2015 and followed up in 2016 with Solar roof tiles 2.0 – a major improvement. Alas, like a number of Elon Musk’s promises, solar roof tiles remain just that – a promise. In 2018 a CNBC investigation found only 12 houses with Tesla’s solar roof tiles and one of those cost the homeowner $100,000. Nice idea – shame about the price.
Andrew Oliver
Market Analyst | Team Harborside | teamharborside.com
REALTOR®
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
One Essex Street | Marblehead, MA 01945
m 617.834.8205
www.OliverReports.com
www.TeamHarborside.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
House votes to extend National Flood Insurance Program – again
Congress must periodically renew the NFIP’s statutory authority to operate. On Dec. 21, 2018, the President signed legislation passed by Congress that extended the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP’s) authorization to May 31, 2019.
This week the House of Representatives passed a Bill to extend the NFIP until September 30. The House also passed a broader disaster relief package last week that also would have extended the NFIP, “a package that is not expected to see action in the upper chamber” according to The Hill.
The Senate signaled Tuesday that it is closing in on a deal on disaster relief, but it remains unclear whether it will include an extension of the NFIP.
Congress has approved 10 short-term extensions of the NFIP since its last multiyear authorization expired in 2017.
On its website FEMA says: “NFIP reauthorization is an opportunity for Congress to take bold steps to reduce the complexity of the program and strengthen the NFIP’s financial framework so that the program can continue helping individuals and communities take the critical step of securing flood insurance. The level of damage from the 2017 hurricanes makes it clear that FEMA needs a holistic plan to ready the Nation for managing the cost of catastrophic flooding under the NFIP.”
As the 10 – about to be 11 – extensions of the NFIP since 2017 indicate, expecting this Congress to reach bipartisan agreement on a long-term solution to flood insurance would be taking optimism to a new high.
Andrew Oliver
Market Analyst | Team Harborside | teamharborside.com
REALTOR®
Sagan Harborside Sotheby’s International Realty
One Essex Street | Marblehead, MA 01945
m 617.834.8205
www.OliverReports.com
www.TeamHarborside.com
Andrew.Oliver@SothebysRealty.com
Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Affiliates LLC. Each Office Is Independently Owned and Operated
Spring Cleaning tips
Here are some spring cleaning tips from the Boston Globe:How to spring clean like a Pro
Paint it Black – no, not the Rolling Stones
“I see a red door and I want it painted black
No colors anymore I want them to turn black”
The first two lines from the Stones’ hit might well be the anthem behind this recent post from Curbed Boston Black is the new Black
Home of Laura Fenton
“Black house exteriors have come into fashion at what seems like an almost astonishing speed. Pinterest reports that saves for black houses have grown 774 percent since spring 2014, significantly spiking in March of this year (possibly tied to a New York Times story that appeared on March 7).
And people are not just dreaming of black houses. Thus far in 2018, Tricorn Black, a deep, saturated ebony that is perennially one of the company’s most popular blacks, is the 12th most popular paint sold by Sherwin-Williams in the U.S., up from the 33rd spot in 2017.
In Canada, Tricorn Black is the sixth most popular color so far this year, while no black colors even made the country’s top 50 list in 2017.”
Um maybe. But I really don’t see many owners of New England shingle homes deciding to stain them black. Do you?
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