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EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS

"Smart Homes"

"Smart homes" are popping up all around the Puget Sound region as builders begin to recognize the marketing edge this feature can provide.
Realtors say the region's techno-savvy work force and a rising number of home-based workers are fueling the demand for residences with sophisticated wiring.
To be properly cabled for the future, a home needs an electronic wiring network that supports digital, audio, video, voice, data and control systems along with existing products that may not be fully digital.
Among the amenities the flexible, state of the art in-home wiring systems accommodate are high-speed Internet access, satellite-direct TV, advanced security systems, automated management of heating and lighting, plus "edutainment" and transactional services.
Estimates for prewiring and rewiring homes to make them "smart" vary widely.   One industry trade journal figures the cost at between 1 and 2 percent of a new home's price tag.  Some vendors use a figure of 60 cents to $1 per square foot, but not it can range from around $30 to ad "CAT 5" wiring to upwards of $30,000 for proprietary systems.  Retrofitting an existing home can cost around $15,000. written by the Seattle King County Association of Realtors - reprinted from KIRO Radio News Fax

Qualifying For A Mortgage
Approximately 3 years ago Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, the two biggest forces in the mortgage industry, endorsed the use of credit scoring in the home mortgage process.   Used for years in auto and consumer loans credit scoring consists of taking verifiable, objective credit information such as how long you have had credit and how much of your borrowing capacity you have used (are your credit cards maxed out) and mathematically generating a score of your credit risk.

Credit scores have proven to be highly accurate in determining who is most likely to be a good or bad credit risk.  Your credit score is now the highest ranking indicator of what loan you qualify for and what interest rate you are going to be offered.  In the future, credit scores will likely be used to place interest rates on a 'sliding-scale' that parallels credit responsibility or risk.

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