Open in the morning only

Open: 9:00 am – noon

Homeowner: Dan Inskeep

Address: 79 16th St., Hermosa Beach

Features: 6 KW 36 panel PV solar system serving 2 residences

Open: 9:00 am – noon

Homeowners: Dency and Moira Lerner Nelson

Address: 2415 Silverstrand Ave., Hermosa Beach

Features: Super-ecient passive solar home design, 4.2 KW PV

solar system, evacuated tube solar water heater for rooftop spa,

hot water recirculation system for whole house, draughttolerant,

grey-water irrigated garden, composting, reclaimed

wood oors & furniture, dual-ush toilets, plus two plug-in

electric vehicles in the garage!

Open: 9:00 am and 10 am – outside presentations with Q&A

on the hour

Homeowners: Robert and Monica Fortunato

Address: 1556 Prospect Ave., Hermosa Beach

Features: The Green Idea House (greenideahouse.com) is SoCal

Edison’s cornerstone case study of their Net Zero Energy

Program. This retrot project is nearly complete and features

aordable, o the shelf technologies to annually produce as

much energy as it uses.

Open: 9:00 am – noon

Homeowner: George and Linda Butts

Address: 1147 8th St., Manhattan Beach

Features: Forty eight Photovoltaic Panels that generate household

electricity. Heat for the pool provide by solar water recirculation

system. Two compost bins for organic gardening; Native

plants no grass; Two tankless hot water systems, radiant oor

heat, hybrid Car. **Ameco Solar representative will be on-site

to answer questions**

Open: 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Homeowners: Ray and Carol Waters

Address: 615 24th Pl., Hermosa Beach

Features: 24 solar modules, dual glazed windows, skylights.

Permaculture garden and chickens! Nissan Leaf owner!

Open: 10:30 am – 12:30 pm

Homeowner: Dr. Robert Elliott

Address: 629 27th St., Manhattan Beach

Features: Solar powered home; double paned glass windows

Open AM and PM

Open: 9:00 am – 2:00 pm

Homeowners: Al and Mary Shadbourne

Address: 2351 W. 235th St., Torrance

Features: 2.1 KW PV net metered solar + additional 2 KW net

metered solar, active solar hot water heating system, Solatube

skylight, solar powered attic fans, whole house circulating/attic

fan, enhanced insulation, dual paned windows + UV/IR blocking

window lm on S & N facing windows, TREX decks, rolling

shutters on south and west facing windows, permeable paver

driveway, 150+ gallons of rainwater collection/storage, lowwater

landscaping; Chevrolet Volt with a 220 charger. And cute

dogs!

Open: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm

Homeowners: Jim Montgomery & April Telles

Address: 112 Via El Chico, Redondo Beach

Features: 4.0 KW Solar PV net-metered system, solar water

heating system, 2002 Toyota RAV4 Electric Vehicle, drought

tolerant CA native landscaping, organic vegetable and fruit

garden with drip irrigation system, composter.

Open: 11:30 am – 1:30 PM

Homeowners: Gerard Family

Address: 529 3rd St., Manhattan Beach

Features: The system is two 3KWsystems for a total 6KW system

with 24 Solar World (250) panels, 2 SMA inventers with

Bluetooth technology that allows for system to report PC/iPad/

iPhone real time. Replaced 70% of lighting with CFL bulbs or

LED bulbs. **Planet Solar will be on hand to answer questions

and provide light refreshments**

Afternoon only

Open: 2:30 – 4:30 pm

Homeowner: Mike Sipila

Address: 17015 Ardath Ave., Torrance

Features: This home provides visitors with the opportunity to

see a PV net-metered solar system and a solar water heating

system. Solar installer, ABC Solar’s Brad Bartz, will also demonstrate

how to make solar cookies and to answer all questions.

For more information, visit the City’s Going Green

website www.citymb.info

or contact Sona Kalapura at skalapura@citymb.info

or 310-802-5341

Environmental Priorities Network

a 501(c)(3) organization

Contact Diane Wallace at dmbarkwall@gmail.com

310-266-1241

Sophisticated accents. Spacious and relaxing. Enter on cherry wooden floors flowing throughout the living, dining and kitchen areas. Kitchen boasts chefs appeal: Bosch appliances, granite counter-tops and custom cabinetry. Large living room w/fireplace opening to balcony with bright, natural light. Large, welcoming master suite w/ walk-in closet. Beautiful custom guest bath w/granite counter-top and stone shower. Baseboard molding throughout. Laundry facilities in unit and building. Easy access to elevator. Additional storage in garage. Building is well maintained with very little turnover. Enjoy shimmering, sunny pool, rec room for social gatherings and private parties. Next door to 24 acres of grass and trees, Dominguez Park and Redondo Beach Dog Park. And, Redondo Beach Historical Society’s Heritage Court. Approximately 1.5 miles to beach. Close to Von’s, restaurants and shopping.

Stunning Custom built home with spectacular ocean views and top-caliber construction. Ideal location west of Highland on a half lot, near the hill’s crest, walking distance to shops and restaurants, this striking home offers some of the best white water views in all of Manhattan Beach, this rare view is not obstucted by power lines! Sophisticated design with clean lines, high ceilings, edge-butted windows, french doors leading to two view decks, open great room plus gourmet kitchen with stainless appliances, hardwood floors, stone and granite throughout, handsome master bath with oversized steam shower, high vanity with gorgeous stone counter, and walk in closet. Adjacent 3rd bedroom on the second floor is currently utilized as an executive office with lovely cherry built in desk and cabinetry (but no closet). Convenient outdoor shower is located on the west side of the home. List price $1,750,000. MLS #S11155506.

 Increased buying activity from investors and second-home purchases may be factors
behind the recent pickup in home sales, but real estate agents say they are fielding more
calls from anxious tenants complaining about rising rents.
 Average apartment rents rose by 2.7 percent last year, while the national vacancy rate
dropped below 5 percent for the first time since 2001, according to a quarterly survey
released Wednesday by REIS Inc., a real estate research firm.
 The largest rent increases came in San Francisco and San Jose, Calif., which saw
increases of 5.9 percent and 4.9 percent, respectively. Such increases are one reason
why industry analysts believe 2012 will be the first year since 2005 when the share of
apartment renters that moves out to buy a house increases from the previous year.
 Historically, the cost to rent an apartment has been about 10 percent lower than the
after-tax cost of owning a home. That rental discount began to fall in 2010 and
disappeared entirely last year, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank who track
housing costs. By the end of 2011, the bank’s research found that the cost to rent an
apartment was about 15 percent higher than the cost to own a home.
 It isn’t always easy for home buyers to make it to the closing table though. Lending and
appraisal standards remain tight, keeping many would-be buyers out of the market. And
aspiring buyers are competing with savvy investors who have turned buying and
reselling foreclosed homes into a business.

Read the full story

http://on.car.org/I8qkMx

The mortgage interest deduction

If you itemize deductions on Schedule A of Form 1040, you’re generally able to deduct the interest you pay on debt resulting from a loan used to buy, build, or improve your principal residence, provided that the loan is secured by your home (the ability to deduct mortgage interest also generally applies to second homes, though special rules apply if you rent the home out for part of the year). Interest you pay on up to $1 million in mortgage debt ($500,000 if you’re married and file a separate federal income tax return) can qualify for the deduction (different rules may apply if you incurred the debt prior to October 14, 1987).

Interest on qualifying home equity debt (basically, debt on a loan secured by equity in your main or second home that is not used to buy, build, or improve your home) of up to $100,000 ($50,000 for married individuals filing separately) is generally deductible regardless of how the loan proceeds are used. Note, however, that if you’re subject to the alternative minimum tax (AMT), the AMT calculation doesn’t allow a deduction for interest on debt that’s not used to buy, build, or improve your home.

Qualified mortgage insurance premium payments made prior to 2012 can be deducted in the same manner as qualified mortgage interest, provided the mortgage insurance contract is issued after 2006. The deduction is, however, phased out for those with adjusted gross incomes exceeding $100,000 ($50,000 for married couples filing separate federal income tax returns).

Deduction for real estate property taxes

If you itemize deductions, you can also generally deduct the real estate taxes that you pay on your property in the year that you pay them to the taxing authority. If you pay your real estate taxes through an escrow account, you can only deduct the real estate taxes actually paid by your lender from the escrow account during the year. For purposes of calculating the AMT, however, no deduction for state and local taxes, including any real estate tax, is allowed.

Mortgage interest deduction threatened?

Recent discussions relating to reducing the budget deficit have cast a spotlight on itemized deductions, including the mortgage interest deduction. Could the mortgage interest deduction ultimately be eliminated? That seems unlikely, but elimination or reduction of the deduction has remained part of the ongoing debate, and was included among the recommendations contained in the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform’s December 2010 report.

Energy tax credit

Though not as generous as it has been the last two years, a credit is available to individuals who make energy-efficient improvements to their homes. You may be entitled to a 10% credit for the purchase of qualified energy-efficient improvements, including a roof, windows, skylights, exterior doors, and insulation materials. Specific credit amounts may also be available for the purchase of specified energy-efficient property: $50 for an advanced main air circulating fan; $150 for a qualified furnace or hot water boiler; and $300 for other items, including qualified electric heat pump water heaters and central air conditioning units.

There’s a lifetime credit cap of $500 ($200 for windows), however. So, if you’ve claimed the credit in the past–in one or more tax years after 2005–you’re only entitled to the difference between the current cap and the total amount that you’ve claimed in the past. That includes any credit that you claimed in 2009 and 2010, when the aggregate limit on the credit was $1,500.

Capital gain exclusion

If you sell your principal residence at a gain, you may be able to exclude some or all of the gain from federal income tax. Generally speaking, capital gain (or loss) on the sale of your principal residence equals the sale price of the home less your adjusted basis in the property. Your adjusted basis is the cost of the property (i.e., what you paid for it), plus amounts paid for capital improvements, less any depreciation and casualty losses claimed for tax purposes.

If you meet all requirements, you can exclude from federal income tax up to $250,000 ($500,000 if you’re married and file a joint federal income tax return) of any capital gain that results from the sale of your principal residence. In general, this exclusion can be used only once every two years. To qualify for the exclusion, you must have owned and used the home as your principal residence for a total of two out of the five years before the sale. If you fail the two-out-of-five-year test, you might still be able to exclude part of your gain if your home sale is due to a change in place of employment, health reasons, or certain other unforeseen circumstances.

It’s important to note that special rules apply in a number of circumstances, including situations in which you maintained a home office for tax purposes or otherwise used your home for business purposes. Special rules may also apply if you are a member of the uniformed services.

While the “Omaha Oracle” has been right about a lot of investments, his opinion on housing hasn’t always been on the mark. At last year’s annual Berkshire Hathaway meeting, he said 2011 was going to be the year that housing prices were going to rebound. In a letter to his shareholders sent last weekend, he apologized for being “dead wrong.” He explained his belief that housing is a sound investment at least in part the inventory of new homes isn’t growing at a rate that will satisfy future demand. People living with their in-laws to save money, he quipped, will find that attractive for only so long.

You have to give Buffett credit for putting his money where his mouth is. Home Services of America Inc., a Berkshire Hathaway Affiliate, is one of the largest independent residential real estate and settlement servicing companies in the U.S. While Buffett wouldn’t comment completely on Berkshire Hathaway’s stake with each of the banks, the fund actively invests in them. He says if he could own only one bank stock right now, it would be Wells Fargo.

Making sense of the story

• Paying points enables a borrower to “buy down” the interest rate on a mortgage in exchange for an upfront fee.  The trend away from points partly reflects borrower sentiment that rates are already low enough, according to industry experts.

• A point equals 1 percent of the loan amount, so paying one point on a $250,000 refinancing costs an extra $2,500 at closing, in addition to other mortgage fees, taxes, and escrow amounts.  Paying a point usually reduces the interest rate by 0.25 points over its term, so for instance, instead of 4 percent, the rate is 3.75 percent.

• The average number of points paid in 2011, according to a Freddie Mac survey, was 0.7 percentage points, less than half the levels people paid in the 1990s.  The average has been 0.7 percent for three years, after it hit a low of 0.4 percent in 2007; in 1995 it averaged 1.8 percent, according to Freddie Mac data.

• The primary advantages of paying points are a lower rate and monthly payment.  To decide if paying points is worthwhile, borrowers should consider two key decisions: How long they plan to live in the home, and how much they can afford in close costs.

• Many mortgage professionals suggest following this rule: If the borrower plans to live in the home for at least five years, paying points will help the homeowner to reap savings.

• Some borrowers are even going for negative points, which is also called a lender rebate or points in reverse.  In exchange for accepting a higher interest rate, the lender agrees to give the borrower a credit, which is usually used for closing costs.