By Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team In the world of apparel fashion, trends go in and out in a matter of months. For interior design, trends may change year to year. But home construction changes much more slowly — on the scale of decades. Home fashions take a while to build momentum, but they are happening. Here’s a look at five trends in the world of home construction and beyond.

Solar roofing

If you haven’t been paying attention, it might feel as if the current solar renaissance came out of nowhere. Recent improvements in solar tech have moved solar panelsfrom an expensive niche technology to a reality for many homeowners. “What’s really made solar accessible — beyond improved efficiency — is the support it’s received from power companies, state and local governments, and eco-conscious investors,” says Brooke Nally, content strategist with Solar Power Authority. This support translates into leasing options, subsidies, and tax breaks for solar customers. As a major home renovation, solar panels are already making waves in the home roofing space. “We see a lot of interest in solar from people who are redoing their roofs — it’s the perfect time to consider adding panels,” Nally explains. From traditional panels to Tesla’s solar shingles, roof design is already seeing major shifts to accommodate solar.

Smart homes

It’s no secret that home automation has become a growing trend in the home building arena. Every year, new companies roll out novel technologies to help people better manage and control their homes. Even search engine giant Google got in on the smart home game, acquiring smart thermostat company Nest for $3.2 billion. “What we’re seeing more and more is companies trying to address needs that people never thought they had,” says David DeMille, online manager for ASecureLife.com. “New devices enter the marketplace all the time, extending past basic sensors to include Wi-Fi enabled doorbells, portable cameras, and two-way speakers.” DeMille is already seeing homes being retrofitted with these devices, and expects they will become standard in new home construction moving forward. But this trend may take some more baking before it’s ready to really rise. Home automation can lower power bills and make your home safer, but with constantly updating technologies, they haven’t historically offered a solid return on investment.

Energy-efficient windows

Not even windows are immune to the growing popularity of home automation. For example, data shows that windows are about 25 percent more energy efficient when locked, according to Sal Abbate, senior vice president at Andersen Windows. Imagine getting a reminder to close or lock your windows to save on your energy bills. “That kind of information sent back to a homeowner – we think could be a really interesting trend,” he explains. Energy efficiency will continue to be a driving trend in windows moving forward, as glass films and coatings make windows better at insulating from heat and cold. Glazing (coating windows so they can become frosty or opaque at the flick of a switch) may be the next science fiction-cum-reality development in windows, as more manufacturers experiment with how to bring the technology out of the luxury market and into everyday homes.

Barn doors

Though this one is partly an interior design trend, installing barn doors requires enough construction to qualify as a building trend. Most interior barn doors slide on a bar mounted above the frame, which presents a smaller profile for interior thresholds.

Electric car charging stations

The continued growth of the electric car industry is having a lasting impact on at least one aspect of home building: the garage. As more homeowners make the switch to fully electric cars, charging stations are becoming a more common fixture in garages. “Demand has grown a lot recently,” real estate agent Anna Sherrill reports. Sherrill handles sales for a boutique Miami property, Louver House, which recently installed four charging stations in its 24-car parking garage. The most expensive stations are still around $3,000, while self-installed units can be as cheap as $300. Expect to see more electric car charging stations in the garages of tomorrow. Home construction has changed drastically in the past decade with the emergence of home automation and a stronger focus on green homes. However, changes in technology and lifestyles will continue to drive home construction changes with a renewed focus on flexibility, automation, and energy efficiency. Please note that this Scottsdale Real Estate Blog is for informational purposes and not intended to take the place of a licensed Scottsdale Real Estate Agent. The Szabo Group offers first class real estate services to clients in the Scottsdale Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the buying and selling of Luxury homes in Arizona. Award winning Realtors and Re/MAX top producers and best real estate agent for Luxury Homes in Scottsdale, The Szabo group delivers experience, knowledge, dedication and proven results. Contact Joe Szabo at 480.688.2020, info@ScottsdaleRealEstateTeam.com or visit www.scottsdalerealestateteam.com to find out more about Scottsdale Homes for Sale and Estates for Sale in Scottsdale and to search the Scottsdale MLS for Scottsdale Home Listings.

By Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team There are those who flee to warmer weather in the winter months, and then there are those who bundle up and head right to the slopes. If you fall into the latter category and a dream home is on your wish list, these 10 postcard-perfect winter wonderlands will be just the thing to get you in the holiday spirit. With gorgeous snowy views and easy access to skiing, snowshoeing, and sledding, these homes offer the ultimate apres ski retreats, with cozy features like fireplaces, outdoor hot tubs, and even a hot chocolate bar. Breckenridge, CO For sale: $10.475 million   Dreaming of your own private ski lodge? Look no further than this Breckenridge, CO luxury property. The 7-bedroom, 8-bathroom, European-style ski-in/ski-out lodge is conveniently located right near the Snowflake lift.

Olympic Valley, CA

For sale: $2.45 million Home to the 1960 winter games, the aptly named Olympic Valley near Lake Tahoe is a ski-lover’s dream. Nestled in the mountains, you can soak in the outdoor hot tub of this 4,100-square-foot home before drying off by the cozy fireplace.

Vail, CO

For sale: $16.5 million For a luxury winter retreat with a rustic vibe, check out this 5-bedroom, 5-bathroom home in the popular winter resort town of Vail. Walk to Gondola One and the shops and restaurants of Vail Village, then retreat back to your own private lodge.

Tamarack, ID

For sale: $349,900 If you’re looking for a move-in ready winter home with no hassle, this 2-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom cottage in the heart of Tamarack Resort is about as hassle-free as it gets. Offered fully furnished — including hot tub — the home is perfectly situated for easy access to ski lifts, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking, and hiking.  

Park City, UT

For sale: $8.9 million Why get a room in a ski resort when you can buy your own? This 6-bedroom, 8-bathroom, 9,918-square foot Park City home has all the high-end amenities one could ever want after a day on the slopes: quartz fireplace, Wi-Fi controlled hot tub, outdoor fire pit, temperature-controlled wine cellar, and an oversized ski room with boot glove warmers and a coffee/hot chocolate bar.  

Steamboat Springs, CO

For sale: $4.9 million This 8,690-square-foot furnished home is kind of like a log cabin on steroids. Rustic wood and stone aesthetics meet modern amenities like a chef’s kitchen, and fireplace and jetted tub in the master suite. Downstairs find a Western-style “saloon” that was made for entertaining.  

Truckee, CA

For sale: $2.495 million Imagine a charming two-story brick, stone, and wood cabin located right on the Northstar ski slope. This Truckee, CA ski-in/ski-out home is like your personal winter wonderland, with dual outdoor living areas and hot tub. Should you choose to leave, all the activities, restaurants, and shopping of Northstar are a stone’s throw away.  

Mountain Village, CO

For sale: $7 million The words “luxury” and “log cabin” don’t seem like they would go together, but this 5-bedroom, 7,516-square-foot home proves that the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Located on the slopes of Mountain Village, CO, it’s perfectly situated to enjoy beautiful views while warming up by the wood-burning fireplace.

The North Pole

Santa’s House The North Pole Nowhere says winter wonderland like the North Pole. For the ultimate holiday daydream, imagine decking the halls at Santa’s house. The toy-lover’s paradise is nestled on 25 idyllic acres. Chock full of holiday magic, the home features a floor-to-ceiling river rock fireplace and a baker’s oven with 12 cookie settings. The property also boasts a state-of-the-art toy making facility, sleigh-ready garage, and reindeer stalls. Please note that this Scottsdale Real Estate Blog is for informational purposes and not intended to take the place of a licensed Scottsdale Real Estate Agent. The Szabo Group offers first class real estate services to clients in the Scottsdale Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the buying and selling of Luxury homes in Arizona. Award winning Realtors and Re/MAX top producers and best real estate agent for Luxury Homes in Scottsdale, The Szabo group delivers experience, knowledge, dedication and proven results. Contact Joe Szabo at 480.688.2020, info@ScottsdaleRealEstateTeam.com or visit www.scottsdalerealestateteam.com to find out more about Scottsdale Homes for Sale and Estates for Sale in Scottsdale and to search the Scottsdale MLS for Scottsdale Home Listings.

By Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team Mortgage rates have spiked 0.5 percent since the U.S. presidential election earlier this month. On a 30-year fixed loan of $300,000, this increases your monthly payment by $85. If you were waiting to refinance, this is a wake up call, and if you plan to buy a home, it’s time to reevaluate your budget — because rates are unlikely to drop. Let’s review what happened, and where we go from here.

Why rates are rising

Rates rose after Donald Trump became president-elect because market participants believe his proposed policies — infrastructure spending, tax cuts, and trade tariffs — will be inflationary if enacted. Rates are tied to bonds, because bonds pay a rate of return to investors each year. If policymaking fuels inflation, a bond investor’s rate of return will be worth less in the future. Investors sell bonds on inflation fears, and rates rise when bond prices drop in a selloff. This is exactly what has happened. Since the election, bond selling has led to the biggest bond losses in 26 years. Thirty-year mortgages have jumped into the low 4-percent range from the mid 3-percent range at record speed. This dramatic rate spike might level off near-term, but don’t count on a reversal back to record lows.

Where we might go from here

Jeffrey Gundlach, one of the world’s most respected bond investors, thinks we’ve seen about 80 percent of a post election rate spike ahead of the Federal Reserve meeting on December 14. This means rates could rise a bit more in the coming weeks, then the next catalyst will be Fed policy. The Fed has two main policy influences on rates. First, they control an overnight bank-to-bank lending rate that serves as a benchmark for overall rate levels in the economy. In December 2015, they hiked this rate 0.25 percent after keeping it near zero since December 2008, when the financial crisis was at its worst. There’s almost 100% probability of a rate hike at the Fed’s December 14 policy meeting. If the Fed does hike, this will reinforce inflationary expectations, driving higher rates. It will also increase rates on home equity line of credit (HELOC) second mortgages. Second, the Fed has helped to keep rates low since January 2009 by buying bonds that directly impact mortgage rates — rates have dropped (or stayed low) on this Fed buying. Rising rates will hurt the Fed’s ability to buy enough bonds to continue holding rates down. All of this means the Fed won’t be as rate-friendly as we’ve become accustomed to since 2008. This is why it’s very unlikely rates will drop from here, and may rise instead. Nobody knows how much more until we get policy clarity from the first 100 days of a Trump administration, and the corresponding Fed reactions February 1, March 15, and May 3.

Implications for home buyers and owners

Below are some things you should be aware of as you evaluate your options in a rising rate environment. These predictions incorporate the latest available economic estimates (from November 16) from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

• Last call to refinance. Rates are still low historically, but if you’ve been waiting to refinance — for a lower rate/payment or to take cash out of your home — look at your options immediately, before rates rise further.
• HELOC rates will spike next. If you have a HELOC second mortgage, it’s tied to the Prime rate, which will rise in lock step with the Fed rate noted above. The Prime rate is expected to rise .25 percent in December, then rise steadily to be a full 1 percent higher than today by late 2017. Talk to your loan adviser about refinancing your HELOC into a fixed rate second mortgage so your rate can’t rise.
• Homeowners, re-calculate your budget. If you’ve been pre-approved to buy a home, that pre-approval was done using a debt-to-income ratio, which will increase with rising rates. Ask your lender to refresh your pre-approval with current rates to see what your budget looks like, and to ensure you still qualify for your target home price.
• Home prices shouldn’t spike. Rising rates may help keep home prices from rising too quickly. Median existing home prices are expected to go from $233,300 in 2016 to $244,100 in 2017, and median new home prices are expected to go from $305,900 to $311,500 in the same period.

• Healthy home-buying market in 2017. Total home purchase loans made will increase from $990 billion in 2016 to $1.1 trillion in 2017, while refinances will plummet from $901 billion in 2016 to $484 billion in 2017. Existing home sales will increase from 5.4 million in 2016 to 5.7 million in 2017, and new home sales will increase from 575,000 in 2016 to 649,000 in 2017.

Please note that this Scottsdale Real Estate Blog is for informational purposes and not intended to take the place of a licensed Scottsdale Real Estate Agent. The Szabo Group offers first class real estate services to clients in the Scottsdale Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the buying and selling of Luxury homes in Arizona. Award winning Realtors and Re/MAX top producers and best real estate agent for Luxury Homes in Scottsdale, The Szabo group delivers experience, knowledge, dedication and proven results. Contact Joe Szabo at 480.688.2020, info@ScottsdaleRealEstateTeam.com or visit www.scottsdalerealestateteam.com to find out more about Scottsdale Homes for Sale and Estates for Sale in Scottsdale and to search the Scottsdale MLS for Scottsdale Home Listings.

By Joe Szabo, Scottsdale Real Estate Team Just once, wouldn’t it be wonderful to enjoy entertaining your friends and family rather than focusing on the clean up and preparation? You can! All you have to do is adopt a foolproof pre-entertaining organization method: the “GO” approach. Often, we prepare for events focusing on details that our guests will never really notice. The truth is, you can do far less preparing than you think. The “GO” approach is all about “guest observation.” In other words, to get your house pre-organized for a party or the holidays, think about what your guests will observe, rather than all the things you think you ought to do. Guests adhere to a particular pattern when they enter your home. Usually they stop in four locations, and in a specific order: the front door, the kitchen, the bedroom, and the bathroom. Focus your efforts on these four locations using the GO approach so you can lighten your workload and increase your time spent enjoying the holidays.

Start at the front door

The front door is where you can set the first impression for how you manage the “look and feel” of your organized home. Just tackle a few key tasks:

1. Shake out the outdoor mat and sweep.
2. Place a flowering plant outside on a table at the front door (even if you have a small apartment or bungalow).
3. Write a little note saying, “I’m/We’re seriously thankful you’re here. Welcome!” The note transforms your guests’ frustration from traffic or family upsets while in the car to feeling appreciated. It also sets the tone of care and kindness before they even enter your home.

The kitchen

Typically, guests come to the kitchen first to drop off a pie, salad, or bottle of wine. Now, the turkey in the oven usually provides the yummy aroma, but how do you handle those first visual impressions, including having the proper tools and space for cleaning up after the meal?

These high-impact tasks will help:

• Clear the clutter from the counters. Remove small appliances, bottles of vitamins, piles of paper, phone chargers, and put it all in a box labeled “stuff from kitchen counter.” Place it in the garage or even the trunk of your car, if you’re short on storage space.
• No time to clean the oven? Line it with tin foil to give it a clean and shiny look inside.
• Break out a fresh sponge for doing dishes. Place a notecard above the sink that says “I’m thankful for your help with my dishes. I appreciate you.” Guaranteed your guests will smile and pitch in. If you wind up stuck doing the dishes on your own, that little note you wrote will surely remind you of your self-worth, and those dishes won’t seem like such a chore.

The bedroom

Next, your guests will need to put their coats and bags somewhere; the usual spot is in a bedroom. How do you hide the mess and clutter? Try my “dim some” lighting method. That means dim most of the lighting in the room with some lighting on an accent piece. If you don’t have a dimmer switch, change out your light bulb to a lower wattage, or change the bulb to a colored bulb of your choice. You can also change the lamp shade to one that is orange or yellow to give the room a warmer hue. If you have a pretty picture or photo, put an accent light on that piece to divert attention away from messy areas.

The bathroom

The key here is to keep your guests’ embarrassment level to a minimum and their impression of you at a high. An overflowing toilet is something guests will remember (especially if it happens to them). If you minimize the possibility of mayhem before it starts, you’re golden.

1. If the toilet is a little wonky, help out your guests with a cute sign that says “Hold handle down for 10 seconds” or “Jiggle handle to flush.”
2. Have a plunger nearby.
3. Put a spray deodorizer on top of the tank.
4. Keep lots of extra toilet paper stored in an obvious location.
5. Embroidered or white guest towels can be intimidating for folks to use for fear of ruining them. Use paper towels with a holiday design and place the trash can in a visible spot.
6. Finally, a small bunch of beautiful flowers (such as an orchid or sweet-smelling roses) will serve you more here than a centerpiece on the table.

Eliminate obvious stains and odors

While making beds and putting away laundry are definite pre-hosting, don’t forget to focus on the obvious — stains and odors — before your guests do! Here are a few last-minute tips that will leave you proud and your guests impressed:

• Hang scented pine cones near key hooks and plants, inside closets, at the front door, above litter boxes, or on door handles in the bathroom.
• Rustle up some vanilla extract from your spice rack and dab it on light bulbs around the house. As the bulb heats, the pleasant vanilla scent lingers.
• Most of us have little stains in our carpet. If you do, too, spray shaving cream on the stain to bring the dirt to the surface. Pat with a paper towel and vacuum. (Note: Always test new stain treatments in a remote area of the carpet or rug first.)
• If you have a scratch or nick in your wood table or other wood furniture, try rubbing a walnut on it to make it less noticeable.

And remember, whatever you do, don’t sweat the small stuff. Your guests will remember the tone your attitude sets more than anything else. Please note that this Scottsdale Real Estate Blog is for informational purposes and not intended to take the place of a licensed Scottsdale Real Estate Agent. The Szabo Group offers first class real estate services to clients in the Scottsdale Greater Phoenix Metropolitan Area in the buying and selling of Luxury homes in Arizona. Award winning Realtors and Re/MAX top producers and best real estate agent for Luxury Homes in Scottsdale, The Szabo group delivers experience, knowledge, dedication and proven results. Contact Joe Szabo at 480.688.2020, info@ScottsdaleRealEstateTeam.com or visit www.scottsdalerealestateteam.com to find out more about Scottsdale Homes for Sale and Estates for Sale in Scottsdale and to search the Scottsdale MLS for Scottsdale Home Listings.