Solar Energy Question and Answer

ENVIRONMENT/TECHNOLOGY

Hello my name is Paul Melko. I just finished reading your infromation on solar energy. I have one question. I built a 1200 sqr ft. cottage in the Muskoka area 5 years ago. This cottage is well insulated and I leave the heat on when we are away from cottage. It is heated by electric baseboard heaters and I leave 3 of these thermastat controled heaters on at 15c setting. During the winter months we usually go up to our cottage approximately once per month. Can solar panels generate enough power to operate these heaters while we are away from cottage. We use a woodstove to heat the cottage when we are there. Any information you can send us will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Paul Melko

Hey Paul!

I think your best bet would be to install both solar and wind power units and a backup battery system / generator system. That way the solar/wind would do 99% to 100% of the work, but there would be a backup system in case there was ever days with very little sunlight or wind or very cold days when the heaters are on constantly.

You would need to calculate how much electricity is needed on average to run the heaters daily (this will vary on especially cold days) and then plan to buy enough solar/wind units to get approx. 120% of the amount needed. The extra 20% is to provide extra juice to the battery system.

Sincerely,
Charles Moffat

SOLAR/WIND INFO

How to Build a Windmill

The Solar Powered Myth

Solar Power becoming Profitable

Home Energy Saving Tips

Building Green

Muskoka Cottage Prices = Ridiculous!

CANADA - Looking to buy a cottage in Muskoka this summer? Good luck with that! (sarcasm)

The cottage prices in the region are sky high (ie. $5.45 million...) and the only places with more reasonable prices need repairs.

But... and this is a big BUT... if you are the Do It Yourself type, you could fix up a Muskoka cottage yourself... which is probably what you would have to do if you can't afford the ridiculous prices being asked for some places.

muskokacottageonline.com is an interesting example. Its an entire website dedicated to trying to sell ONE "cottage". A very expensive mansion of one. Its not a cottage at all. Its freaking huge! You'd have to be celebrity or multi-millionaire with tonnes of money to waste to want to buy it.

Even some of the expensive places need repairs. Probably why they're being sold in the first place. People look at the cost of repairing a place, realize they only visit the place a couple times / year and then decide its not worth fixing. Better off just selling it.

But that doesn't mean you have to spend a fortune to fix these places, assuming you are the DIY type. All you need is the materials (ie. commercial roofing and metal panels), the hardware tools, the know-how and you can do most of the fixing yourself.

You can also get printable coupons to help cover the cost of materials, tools and things needed after you move in.

Or you could just skip buying a cottage and get a vacation package instead at a Muskoka resort / spa. Two days and two nights accommodation costs approx. $700 to $1000 for 2 people, and includes breakfast, dinner, resort activities and spa treatment. ie. Spa Rosseau.

Why buy a cottage you barely use when you could just get the spa treatment for a tiny fraction of the cost?

Or better yet, just go camping or borrow a friends' or relatives cottage. Or rent one. Seems stupid to want to pay outrageous prices just so you can have bragging rights.

Toronto Market Sluggish

CANADA - A friend of mine is trying to sell his condo near the CBC building in downtown Toronto. Its a hot desirable location, close to the downtown financial sector. Sadly he is not alone, a lot of people are trying to sell their condos downtown and there is not a lot of buyers this Spring.

Indeed stagnation seems to be the trend nationwide.

According to March price data from the Canadian Real Estate Association the average urban prices are up 4.3%, if you ignore the jet-propelled Vancouver market (up 13.4% and already way ahead the rest of the Canadian market).

In contrast Toronto is up 4.9% and Montreal is up 4.6% compared to last year. The problem however is that while prices soar, the rate of sales slow and cool down dramatically.

Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at BMO Capital Markets, says that the housing market will continue to slow sales in 2011. While personal incomes may be up 5% compared to last year, household debts are also skyrocketing in Canada which means most people cannot afford to buy a new home.

Some analysts think that home price increases will slow further to a snail's pace or even stop entirely by late this year.

According to BMO Capital Markets the ratio of prices to incomes is about 14% higher than its long-run average, and therefore is "moderately overvalued." (Before the bubble burst in the USA in 2005 the ratio was 26%, or "highly overvalued".)

Even moderate overvaluation hurts home sales and market sustainable.

If interest rates go up it will hurt the market even more.

CIBC World Market and Royal Bank economist Robert Hogue also think the housing market will stall this year. Bad news for people wanting to buy or sell.

Here is a thought... if you are trying to sell a home or condo, maybe you should actually do the unthinkable...

LOWER YOUR PRICE!!!

In a February report on affordability across Canada, Royal Bank economists found a typical two-storey home in Vancouver cost $780,700, double the Canadian average. Such a home would have cost $342,600 in Montreal or $570,100 in Toronto.

In February Toronto did have one good news on the topic of sales... Condo sales in February hit an all-time high, shattering the previous record by a margin of 26% and sold 2,202 new condos. It was also the first time February condo sales beat the 2,000 mark.

When the housing market is too expensive there is often a jump in condo sales because they are more affordable. Sadly this only seems to have effected new condos. The Building Industry and Land Development Association says the number of condos sold, saw a 36% increase from last year.

The previous record was set back in 2002, long before the infamous housing bust of 2008.

Home Renovations, Staging and Solar

If you are looking to sell your home one of the increasingly popular things to do these days is to hire a home stager. They come into your home with furniture, art work and make your home more like a model home...

However before you can hire a home stager you might want to consider having some renovations done and adding some things people would be willing to pay extra for.

#1. Better Insulation.

When you consider that there is now government incentives like the Ontario MicroFIT program then there really is little excuse for not renovating your home before selling it.

There is also a lot more technological options these days that are far more cost effective at saving people money, like rigid foam insulation and wall systems.

#2. Solar Power

Solar power is not as expensive as people once thought it was. See the following sites:

The Solar Powered Myth

Solar Power Becoming Profitable

Yada yada yada, regardless of what you think of solar power it is an opportunity for homeowners to add something extra to their home which will allow them to ask for a much higher asking price.

The good thing is that thanks to technological innovations solar power is becoming cheaper. Better manufacturing techniques and manufacturing software allows companies to be more competitive and offer products at cheaper rates than they used to.

#3. Geothermal

See the following site I wrote about Geothermal Heating Systems.

Of course I suppose its possible people might be desperate to sell in a hurry and unable to reach an agreement regarding any renovations and improvements, like in the case of a divorce. They could get a marriage counsellor I suppose, but if all else fails they could at least try to agree on some small renovations just to increase their asking price.

How to buy a house with no money down

By Mark Weisleder

If you have a good job and want to buy a first home, but don’t have a down payment, can it be done? The answer is maybe and depends on how you answer these questions.

How's you credit score?

In order to qualify for a mortgage you must have a good credit rating. Try and reduce or eliminate all outstanding credit card debt first. Cancel credit cards that you are not using.

Do not change jobs just before applying for a mortgage. The lender will want to see that you have a stable employment history. You can go to Equifax.ca to obtain a free copy of your credit score. If any information in your credit file is incorrect, take the time to get it fixed before applying for any mortgage loan.

Do you qualify for an insured mortgage? With an insured mortgage, you are able to finance up to 95 per cent of the purchase price, either through CMHC or a private mortgage insurer. You will need to have at least the remaining 5 per cent down payment, as well as approximately an additional 1.5 per cent to cover the land transfer tax, legal, moving and other closing fees.

You may also want to set some money aside to do some work on your new home before you move in. To obtain the insured mortgage, you will have to demonstrate that you have enough monthly household income to pay your mortgage as well as your household expenses. It is a good idea to try and get pre approval for a mortgage, so you know before looking how much you can afford, based on the down payment that you have.

Is a mortgage with no down payment possible?

Some lenders offer qualified buyers the entire down payment on the day of closing, if the buyer has good credit, stable employment and qualifies for the lender’s closed-mortgage rate over 5 years. This can allow you to buy a home worth up to $400,000 in most cases.

The disadvantages with these mortgages are that if you want to discharge them early, you will have to pay back a pro-rated portion of the money received. And you will probably be paying 3 per cent more interest on a monthly basis than you would if you were using a variable rate mortgage, which is popular today among most home buyers.

This extra interest will amount to more than the imputed value of the down payment over a five year period, yet it will be offset by the fact that you get to close your purchase now, with a down payment that you currently don’t have. Other lenders offer similar “cash back” mortgages, which may cover your 1.5 per cent closing costs or more, on similar terms and conditions.

What about the agent’s commission?

Most buyers use a real estate agent to find the right home and negotiate the best price. They provide advice on how to handle a bidding war, make sure your home is professionally inspected, and arrange the proper insurance. They may introduce you to a mortgage lender. Most buyer agents will try and obtain their commission from the seller. But if the seller refuses to pay them, it is expected that the buyer will pay the agent.

Let’s say the buyer agrees to pay their agent 2.5 per cent commission for their efforts. The agent finds a house and the buyer wishes to pay $400,000, with the understanding that the seller will pay the buyer agent the 2.5 per cent commission, or $10,000, plus HST.

Now let’s say the seller refuses to pay the commission. The buyer will then offer $390,000 to the seller and will pay the agent directly. The difficulty with this example is if you are a buyer with very little down payment, you do not have this extra $10,000 plus HST to pay the agent.

CMHC has indicated that in the above example, they will only finance the commission if it is included in the $400,000 sale price. This to me is wrong and needs to be changed. CMHC should permit a buyer such as the one in this example who pays $390,000 plus $10,000 directly to the buyer agent, to be able to finance this entire amount with an insured mortgage.

Hopefully, this will change, once CMHC sees the impact of all the recent changes to real estate brokerage models as a result of the settlement between the Competition Bureau and the Canadian Real Estate Association.

Until that happens, buyers need to be up-front and honest with their buyer agents. If you know you do not have the money to pay the buyer agent yourself, as in the above example, explain to the agent that every offer you submit must be on the understanding that the seller will be paying the commission directly.

Other stuff. If you are contemplating a home with a basement apartment to help carry your expenses, be careful to make sure that the unit has legal zoning and complies with the local Fire Code. In addition, make sure that you notify your insurance company about this.

Finally, always have a professional home inspection done. You do not want to find, after closing, that the house requires repairs that you can’t afford.

Even if you have a low down payment, by being properly prepared, your dream of home ownership can come true in 2011.