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One of my clients is buying a home in an older neighborhood off Mukilteo Blvd. in Everett. Her title report records the CCR (also known as CC&R), which stands for Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions. CCRs are intended for the home buyer, who reads through the covenants and decides whether to agree to them.

This particular neighborhood covenant was signed, dated, and notarized on February 18, 1944. The CCR states that the covenant is binding through January 1, 1960, and then automatically extended “for successive periods of ten (10) years” unless a majority of the owners vote to change said covenants in whole or in part.

The CCR contains the usual stipulations about residence size, as well as rules pertaining to the construction of “Out Buildings.”

There’s even an item about “Noxious Use of Property,” which designates that “no noxious, illegal, or offensive trade, or use of land shall be carried on… or anything which may be, or become, an annoyance or nuisance to the neighborhood.”

Item 9

But one item really caught the attention of the home buyer. It was Item 9: Racial Restrictions. It states:

“No race or nationality other than the White or Caucasian race shall use or occupy any building on any lot, except that this covenant shall not prevent occupancy by domestic servants of a different race of nationality employed by an owner or tenant.”

The home buyer – a single Caucasian mom of two bi-racial sons – was absolutely shocked. Understandably, she did not want the Racial Restrictions on the title report, so I called the title company and they removed Item 9 from the report.

It’s intriguing and more than a bit disconcerting that these types of restrictions remain on title reports today.

Racially Restrictive Covenants

Prior to the 1960s, many covenants were used for segregationist purposes. However, African Americans openly defied these covenants, and in 1948, the U.S. Supreme court ruled racially restrictive covenants unenforceable, in Shelley v. Kraemer.

However, private contracts kept them alive until The Fair Housing Act of 1968 banned discriminating on the basis of race or color.

What’s in a CCR?

Typically, CCRs cover the following topics:

• Exterior paint colors
• Required siding
• Pet restrictions, including rules about barking dogs, unchained pets, livestock and poultry, and breeding for profit
• Road maintenance fees
• Easement rights (such as a pathway for power lines)
• Storing RVs or dead vehicles on the property
• In-home businesses
• Clutter
• Tree-cutting
• Outdoor television antenna (whether they’re allowed, and if so, placement of antenna)
• Parking
• Garage use (some CCRs specify that garages are to be used only for parking vehicles, not as storage units, home offices, or man caves)
• Maintenance of joint property (such as a neighborhood swimming pool or playground)
• Fencing (whether fences are allowed, and if so, which type and how high)
• Set backs (how far homes must be from streets and interior lot lines)
• Home rentals
• Common areas (times at which exercise rooms, tennis courts, or pools can be used)
• Trash (where trash receptacles must be stored; how soon cans must be taken in from the street after the garbage is collected)

And, of course, there are rules about how to change or void the covenants!

Chime In

Does your home’s CCR contain any unusual rules? Please share them.

What goes around comes around. There is nothing new under the sun. Been there, done that. Yada, yada, yada.

Housing trends (like most trends) tend to wax and wane over the years, but they often retain something from previous generations. It’s like . . . deja vu all over again. Which is exactly what happened in the 1920s with certain types of housing designs.

More accurately called the Dutch Colonial Revival, this quaint, whimsical style reflects early 19^th century Americans’ tie with their European roots. While homeowners from earlier decades focused on practicality or the demonstration of wealth, home buyers from the 1920s leaned further towards sentiment and romanticism than ever before.

The Dutch Colonial style house was a throwback to the Dutch colonists who settled in the lower parts of New York and New Jersey. This architecture conveys the importance of domesticity, family life, and nostalgia.

Usually built with wood, brick, or stone, with a shingle gambrel roof, the Dutch Colonial saw its heyday between 1910-1928. Easy to identify, the Dutch Colonial typically has a symmetrical two-sided roof with two slopes on each side, curved or flared eaves, and resembles a barn. Depending on the variety, the entryways to these homes are decorated with a hood or type of dormer.

Here are a few different types of Dutch Colonial homes:

Rembrandt

Marlboro

Pacific Ready #194

Sears Verona (which looks like the Fisher Price House to me)

Radford Dover

According to historians, folks in the 20s were less concerned with impractical excess and showing off their social status. Instead they were more content to hunker down and enjoy the security of family life and the convenience of new technology. They had survived the Great War and were enjoying the fruits of the manufacturing boom.

During this decade, cars, radios, refrigerators, washing machines, electric irons and other appliances flooded the markets, much to the delight of grateful consumers.

With the US gross national product skyrocketing at $93 billion in 1924 (up from $69 in 1921), and unemployment at 3.7% by1929, many Americans had the luxury of looking back at their roots with nostalgia while looking towards their future with bright eyed idealism. The care and charm that went into the Dutch Colonial house certainly reflects this.

“We in America today are nearer to the final triumph over poverty than ever before in the history of any land,” declared Herbert Hoover after accepting the Republican presidential nomination in August of 1928.

The unexpected turmoil in the 30s definitely impacted the next stage of home building. Stay tuned while we look into the history behind the Tudor, Cape Cod, and Mid-Century home styles.

I hope you’re enjoying our historical tour of the evolution of housing trends. My name is Joni Kerley, I specialize in Snohomish County real estate. Got your sights set on a Dutch Colonial from the roaring 20s? For more information on these and other styles in our area, give me a call at 425-343-4545.

Photo © 2011 Joni Kerley

It seems everyone’s going green these days; let’s acknowledge our Seattle roots (pun intended) and take a look at today’s version of the prefab home and their emphasis on sustainable living.

Prefabricated homes aren’t new – they’ve been around since the early 1900s, thanks to Mr. Richard W. Sears and his handy mail-order Modern Homes program.

The buzz word in the early 20^th century was “convenience;” today it’s “energy efficient” (I think convenience is an assumption – few of us want to revert back to the days of outhouses and kerosene lamps).

Then there were those crazy dome-shaped Dymaxion houses of the early 40s, which thankfully, never took off. The late 40s, early 50s ushered in the short-lived Lustron homes, followed by the successful venture of mobile homes.

The key to a prefab home is that it is constructed in factories and rebuilt on-site. They are considered more economical than traditional homes and can be moved offsite if needed.

Ah but today, there’s a new kid in town, namely the “modular” home, by companies such as GreenFab, founded in 2008, who focus on the sustainability of homeownership.

Let’s take a moment for a VOCABULARY BREAK:

Sustainability is providing for the best for people and the environment both now and in the indefinite future. Another way to put it: Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Per GreenFab, some of the benefits to building a modular home are:

• Shorter construction time frame
• Cost efficient construction process
• Use of healthy materials in a safe working environment
• Higher quality construction with regular quality control checks
• 50-70% less waste
• Reduction of carbon footprint
• More responsible to natural resources
• Makes homes more affordable

So who knows? Maybe the GreenFab folks are on to something. Perhaps we’re heading towards a workable, feasible, trend in housing. For more information about GreenFab’s current project in the works check the Everett Herald.

You may be asking, “But Joni, where do you come in?”

I thought you’d never ask.

I am a real estate agent; I specialize in connecting homeowners with their future homes. Since every home needs a piece of land, I’ve got experience in making that happen. If you’ve got the modular home bug and want to talk about land, feel free to contact me, Joni Kerley, at 425-343-4545.

Photo compliments of stock.xchng, photo credit An P

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With the calendar turning over to a new year, it’s an excellent time to step back and reflect on 2010. Lest you think I want to know about your diet successes (or failures), let me clarify by pointing you in the direction of the U.S. housing market. Because in order to move forward with our housing aspirations, it’s helpful to look backwards and learn a thing or two from our successes (and failures).

On the upside, the National Association of REALTORS® provides the following data from 2010:

• Pending home sales rose again in November, with the broad trend over the past five months indicating a gradual recovery into 2011.
• Existing home sales got back on an upward path in November, resuming a growth trend since bottoming in July.
• Existing home sales in the West jumped 11.7 percent to an annual level of 1.15 million in November but are 19.0 percent below the sales peak in November 2009. The median price in the West was $212,500, up 0.4 percent from a year ago.
• Homeownership: According to a survey conducted earlier in the year by Bankrate.com, 90 percent of respondents said they had no regrets buying their current home. And just this month, a Fannie Mae survey found that most Americans – both those who currently own their homes and those who rent – strongly aspire to own a home and to maintain home ownership.
• According to the Wall Street Journal, The Fed reports a likelihood of job growth in 2011, despite a floundering housing market.
• The Seattle Times reported an unexpected boost to King County home sales in December 2010.

On the flip side of the coin (we have to look at the flip side, in the interest of being responsible and mature):

• Clear Capital reports via their Home Data Index™ (HDI) Market Report: There was a national house price change of -4.1 percent in 2010. Experts are predicting another -3.7 percent year-over-year change in 2011.
• The unemployment rate in the United States fell by 0.4 perc`entage point to 9.4 percent in December 2010.
• In the United States, consumer confidence dropped to 52.5 in December of 2010 from 54.3 in November of 2010. In the United States, the consumer confidence survey measures the level of optimism that consumers have about the performance of the economy.

In the overall general housing market arena, things are still a bit dicey. However, based on reports by several experts and studies, we are on the upswing and on the way to a healthier economy. Be encouraged, homeowner, we’re making a comeback. Baby steps, it’s all about baby steps.

For more information on buying or selling a home in 2011, feel free to contact me, Joni Kerley, at 425-343-4545.

*Image used courtesy of stock.xchng.

As we begin a new year, it’s time to take a look at taxes—particularly the impact on homeowners. You’ve probably heard the old adage: In order to make money, you have to spend money. Looking at it from a homeowner’s perspective, we’ll tweak it a bit: If you’re planning on spending money on a house, be prepared for some tax benefits along the way.

I know, it’s cool.

Here are three main tax benefits to homeownership:

1. Deductibility of mortgage interest

2. Deductibility of real estate taxes, also called property taxes

3. Capital gain tax exclusion

Here they are again, broken down into digestible parts:

1. Deductibility of mortgage interest: Homeowners who itemize their federal income tax deductions may reduce their taxable income by the annual amount of mortgage interest paid on a first (and second) home, up to $1 million in total home mortgage debt.
2. Deductibility of real estate taxes: Itemizing homeowners may also deduct state and local real estate taxes. Check your monthly mortgage payments for real estate taxes to deduct; for new homeowners, check your closing costs for real estate taxes you paid during settlement.
3. Capital gain tax exclusion for principal residences: If you’re planning on selling your home, this one’s for you. Taxpayers may exclude from capital gains taxation the proceeds from the sale of a principal residence with the following limitations: $500,000 of gain for married homeowners and $250,000 for single homeowners.

*An important note to service members in the military:

If you are a qualified service member who served on official extended duty outside of the United States for 90 days or more at any time between January 1, 2009, to April 30, 2010, you have an extra year to buy a home and take advantage of the tax credit of 2009-2010. Specifically, you have until April 30, 2011, to sign a sales contract, and until June 30, 2011, to settle and close on the home.

Both the $8,000 first-time and $6,500 repeat home buyer tax credits are included in the rule.

“Qualified service members” are defined as a member of the uniformed services of the United States military, a member of the Foreign Service of the United States, or an employee of the intelligence community. The rule that requires buyers to repay the credit if they move out of their home within three years has also been waived for qualified service members if they have to sell their home due to receiving government orders for extended duty service.

Okay, enough tax talk for now. It makes my head hurt. I need chocolate.

If you are considering buying or selling a home in 2011, feel free to contact me , Joni Kerley, at 425-343-4545.

*Image used courtesy of stock.xchng