Unique Property of the Month: Boise fallout shelter on the market for $2.1 million - 9News.com - February 2020

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced the U.S. was going to start building fallout shelters. Boise's was the first. That shelter is now for sale.



Video of History on Fallout Shelter

BOISE, Idaho — In 1960, the height of the Cold War, Boise decided to go somewhat underground, carving the country's first community fallout shelter out of the hills near a new housing development known as The Highlands.

The Federal Civil Defense Administration kicked in $122,000 for its construction, a prototype that would spawn thousands of others coast to coast.

Called "The Highlands Community Shelter," Governor Robert Smylie cut the ribbon in 1961 with Boise families helping to stock it and take a tour of the dormitories and decontamination showers.

It was built to save a thousand people. But not just anyone. If needed, you and your family could gain access for $100.

For 11 years it waited for an attack that never came. Then in 1972 it was sold to the Boise School District which used it for office and storage space.



Jump ahead to 2003, as we jump back to a story we did nearly 17 years ago, with the school district looking to unload it.

"It served many, many years, it still has a lot of life left in it," school district spokesman Dan Hollar said at the time. "And it's up for sale for $125,000."

It sold for $150,000 in 2003 to Boise businessman Jon Farren.

The 14,000 square-feet left Farren with a lot of room to spare, which he's been lending to local bands looking for a place to practice.

He is now hoping to sell the former fallout shelter.

"It's structurally sound, very solid," Hollar adds from the story we did in September 2003. "Light, airy, you can walk on your roof, you can mountain bike on your roof."



And according to Farren, this four large bedroom, three bath (with individual stalls), two-story, mid-century, almost-modern "home" can now be yours for $2.1 million.

The real estate listing also says the property on West Curling Drive is very energy efficient. I mean, if it can keep out radiation it should be able to keep in the heat!

Everyone calls it a bomb shelter because it's fun to say. But it's actually a fallout shelter, meant to protect people from nuclear fallout and not necessarily survive an actual blast from a bomb.

Farren says he is currently adding a fire sprinkler system and other upgrades to the building. But If he sells it, it will be quite the return on investment.

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7 Architectural Elements You Should Never Touch During a Renovation - Realtor.com - February 2020

Older homes have plenty of charm, but they also have their inconveniences: drafts, slanting floors, closed-in kitchens, and tiny bathrooms. The way we live now is just different. So if you're considering updating an older home to incorporate modern comforts, there's something appealing about just doing a gut renovation and starting with a clean slate. Then you can finally create your dream home exactly as you see it in your mind.

But while in general you want to get rid of outdated, inefficient features, you should hold off when it comes to certain unique architectural details.

“Architectural features that give homes distinct character should be left intact," advises Patrick Garrett, a broker and owner at H&H Realty in Trussville, AL. "There are home buyers looking for homes with unique features and older homes with character and charm.”

If you're lucky enough to own a home with historic flair, here are some of the elements that you should endeavor to preserve.

1. Molding

The traditional look of molding is so popular that it’s even found in most newly built homes. If your older home already has these original elements, rejoice!

“On the inside of the home, the first things we salvage are the staircase, window trim, and crown molding,” says Thomas Kenny, co-founder of Scott Simpson Design + Build in Northbrook, IL. “The original molding, in particular, gives the home character and is usually crafted from high-quality materials that will stand the test of time.”

2. Exposed brick

Before you take a sledgehammer to your exposed brick walls, consider this: Many homeowners are actually stripping away their bland drywall to expose the beautiful brick behind it.

“You should not remove exposed brick, because it lends a unique architectural element that brings texture and a rustic vibe to a space,” says Laurie DiGiacomo, principal designer at Laurie DiGiacomo Interiors in Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ. In many homes, the exposed brick serves as a focal point in the room.

3. Columns, exterior trim, and siding

There’s a lot of character in the exterior of an older home.

“When working on historic renovations, we always try to maintain the structural integrity, which means keeping a few elements like columns, exterior trim, and siding intact, because those are impossible to replicate,” says Kenny.

A historical porch with columns may be the home’s most notable exterior feature.

4. Built-in bookcases and window seats

These space-saving features add charm and functionality to a home's interior.

“Built-in bookcases are highly functional, but they also allow one to artfully arrange objects and books,” says DiGiacomo.

And she considers window seats an amenity that could tug at future buyers' heartstrings.

“They are one of those features in a home that instantly forces you to imagine living in that home,” she says. “The minute someone sees a window seat, they immediately fantasize about relaxing and curling up there with a good book.”

5. Stained glass

Upgrading windows is a usual part of any reno—but think twice if those windows are made of stained glass. Original stained glass is pretty rare, and that increases the desirability factor, according to Jonathan Self, a real estate agent at Center Coast Realty in Chicago.

“Once you come across [stained-glass windows], you will remember them for a lifetime,” says Anastasios Gliatis, CEO at Anastasios Interiors in New York City. “They also provide a spiritual, peaceful feeling, since they are identified with churches.”

6. Fireplaces

A fireplace used to be necessary to generate heat, but now it can help generate interest in your home.

“Fireplaces are always a great addition to your home, and older fireplaces come with rich details and rare stones," Gliatis says. As a result, they create a focal point when walking into the room.

7. Solid core/paneled doors

The doors in your older home are nothing like the variety at the big-box store down the street.

“Old solid-core doors, and often their metal elements like doorplates, are real gems,” says Self. “You can't buy these with any amount of money, because the craftsmanship it takes to make them doesn't exist anymore.”

Paneled doors with brass knobs and hinges are definitely worth keeping, Gliatis adds, because this type of hardware can be hard to find and is quite expensive.

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Investors Find Pet-Friendly Properties More Profitable - Realtor Magazine - February 2020

Today, American households are more likely to include pets than children under the age of 18, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Housing Survey. The share of households with kids stands at 27%, while the share of households with pets is at 68%. As a result, investors in residential real estate are targeting this large demographic of pet owners by making their rental properties more appealing and pet-friendly.

Pet-friendly rentals can also increase investors’ profits, suggests a study conducted by FIREPAW Inc., an animal welfare nonprofit research firm. Also, vacancy rates for rentals that allow pets tend to be lower than those that don’t allow pets. Furthermore, landlords spent less than half as much money on advertising their pet-friendly units, and were able to increase their profit by charging separate pet deposits.

This has made more investors want to make their properties appeal to pet-owning tenants. So, they’re taking on a variety of upgrades, such as swapping out carpet for ceramic tile, using pet-safe lawn products, and adding features like cat and dog doors or adjustable shower heads to bathe pets.

Pets also appear to be heavily on the minds of home shoppers. A survey by realtor.com® showed that 87% of home buyers with pets say they take their pets’ needs into account when searching for a home.

“To target the pet parents themselves, investors can provide information about local services such as pet sitters and dog walkers, plus leave pet-centric gifts such as toys and treats upon move-in,” Christopher Long, founder and chief executive at Radius Realty, wrote in a column for Forbes.com.

Certainly, damage to a property from pets is a chief concern among landlords. The FIREPAW study, however, found that tenants with pets tended to cause less damage than tenants with children. Further, even the worst of damages caused by pets tended to be “far less than the average rent or the average pet deposit,” the report notes.

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5 Sweet Tax Deductions When Selling a Home: Did You Take Them All? - Realtor.com - February 2020

You may be wondering if there are tax deductions when selling a home. And the answer is: You bet!

Sure, you may remember 2018's new tax code—aka the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act—changed some rules for homeowners. But rest assured that if you sold your home last year (or are planning to in the future), your tax deductions when you file with the IRS can still amount to sizable savings.

1. Selling costs
These deductions are allowed as long as they are directly tied to the sale of the home, and you lived in the home for at least two out of the five years preceding the sale. Another caveat: The home must be a principal residence and not an investment property.

“You can deduct any costs associated with selling the home—including legal fees, escrow fees, advertising costs, and real estate agent commissions,” says Joshua Zimmelman, president of Westwood Tax and Consulting in Rockville Center, NY.

This could also include home staging fees, according to Thomas J. Williams, a tax accountant who operates Your Small Biz Accountant in Kissimmee, FL.

Just remember that you can’t deduct these costs in the same way as, say, mortgage interest. Instead, you subtract them from the sales price of your home, which in turn positively affects your capital gains tax (more on that below).

2. Home improvements and repairs
Score again! If you renovated a few rooms to make your home more marketable (and so you could fetch a higher sales price), you can deduct those upgrade costs as well. This includes painting the house or repairing the roof or water heater.

But there’s a catch, and it all boils down to timing.

“If you needed to make home improvements in order to sell your home, you can deduct those expenses as selling costs as long as they were made within 90 days of the closing,” says Zimmelman.

3. Property taxes
This deduction is capped at $10,000, Zimmelman says. So if you were dutifully paying your property taxes up to the point when you sold your home, you can deduct the amount you paid in property taxes this year up to $10,000.

4. Mortgage interest
As with property taxes, you can deduct the interest on your mortgage for the portion of the year you owned your home.

Just remember that under the 2018 tax code, new homeowners (and home sellers) can deduct the interest on up to only $750,000 of mortgage debt, though homeowners who got their mortgage before Dec. 15, 2017, can continue deducting up to the original amount up to $1 million, according to Zimmelman.

Note that the mortgage interest and property taxes are itemized deductions. This means that for it to work in your favor, all of your itemized deductions need to be greater than the new standard deduction, which the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act nearly doubled to $12,200 for individuals, $18,350 for heads of household, and $24,400 for married couples filing jointly. (For comparison, it used to be $12,700 for married couples filing jointly.)

5. Capital gains tax for sellers
The capital gains rule isn't technically a deduction (it's an exclusion), but you’re still going to like it.

As a reminder, capital gains are your profits from selling your home—whatever cash is left after paying off your expenses, plus any outstanding mortgage debt. And yes, these profits are taxed as income. But here's the good news: You can exclude up to $250,000 of the capital gains from the sale if you’re single, and $500,000 if married. The only big catch is you must have lived in your home at least two of the past five years.

However, look for the rules of this exemption to possibly change in a future tax bill.

Ralph DiBugnara, vice president at Cardinal Financial, says lawmakers might push to change this so that homeowners would have to live in the property for five of the past eight years, instead of two out of five.

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The Share of Single Homeowners Is at Record High - Realtor Magazine - February 2020

Even as home prices rise, more Americans are heading into homeownership alone. The share of U.S. homeowners who are single reached a record 38.4% in 2018, the latest data available from the U.S. Census Bureau. A separate report says 48.5% of singles aged 18 to 34 owned a home in 2018, the highest level since 2009.

The numbers are higher because more Americans are single, analysts say. Also, an improving economy and strong job market is fueling more Americans to step out on their own in homeownership, even as home prices escalate, USA Today reports.

The share of 18- to 34-year-old Americans who are single reached a record in 2018 at 72.3%. “People are getting married later in life,” Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist for Haus, a company that partners with individuals to buy homes to reduce their costs, told USA Today. Women are increasingly entering the workforce and are rising to higher-level positions, delaying marriage and having children, he says. Older millennials who were delayed by the Great Recession in 2007 through 2009 also may have delayed marriage to put their careers first.

Also adding singles to the housing market: the rising number of Americans who have divorced later in life. In 2018, a record 16.1% of people 55 and older were divorced, up from 5% in 1980. A divorce can produce two single homeowners, McLaughlin notes.

But being single isn’t curbing appetite for homeownership. “Owning a home is a better deal than renting” in the majority of the country, McLaughlin told USA Today. Homeowners—no matter single or married—are realizing that and taking the plunge.

Builders are starting to gradually respond by ramping up entry-level homes. From 2015 to 2018, the share of homes less than 2,400 square feet increased to 51% from 47%, according to an analysis from the National Association of Home Builders.

But buying a home solo can pose challenges. The national median home price has increased 54% since 2012. However, the growth in average wages in that time has increased only by 20%, according to data from the National Association of REALTORS®.

Single homeowners tend to be more common in markets that are less expensive. For example, Des Moines, Iowa, tops the nation with nearly a quarter of all young adults who are single homeowners. On the other hand, less than 10% of young people are single homeowners in pricier markets like New York or San Francisco.

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What Is the Best Time to Buy a House - Houselogic by Realtors - January 2020

Sure, you can consider market conditions. But when to buy a house is really all about you.

Timing determines so much when you're buying a house. Although the best time to buy a house is when you're ready both financially and emotionally, there are other factors that can help you decide when to buy a house.

By timing your purchase just right, you can nab a great home that's just right for you.

What Is the Best Month to Buy a House?
Let's make this clear: There's no such thing as a guaranteed "best month" to purchase a home. (C'mon, we never said this would be easy!)

While some conventional wisdom says there is a best time of year to buy a house — during spring home buying season (April to June) — there are pluses and minuses when it comes to what month you choose to purchase a home.

(Note: Real estate is local. Determining a best time utlimately depends on conditions in your local market.)

Here we've outlined some of the reasons different months can turn out to be the best time to buy a house for you:

January to March. Winter isn't such a bad time to buy a house. Though there's less inventory — meaning there are fewer homes for sale — there are fewer home buyers too, so you have less competition. That means there's a lower likelihood of a bidding war, which can be a stressful experience for home buyers. Another benefit of buying a house during the cold-weather months: Home prices are typically the lowest they'll be all year.

Still, there are drawbacks to buying a house between January and March. Inclement weather can also be a challenge, since snow or ice could make it difficult to drive around and view homes or do a thorough home inspection of some elements, such as a roof.

April to June. Welcome to spring home buying season— the peak months for not only housing supply, but also the number of home buyers shopping for houses. Because most families want to move when the kids are out of school, there's a big incentive to buy a house this time of year, since many home buyers need to allow 30 to 60 days for closing.

The warmer weather also makes open houses more enjoyable, landscaping easier to evaluate, and inspections more comprehensive.

Even though it's generally regarded as the best time of year to buy a house, there are downsides to the spring market. For starters, you'll face more competition from other home buyers — meaning you have to move quickly when a great listing hits the market. Bidding wars are a lot more common, you tend to have less negotiating power, and home prices tend to tick up during spring.

July to September. If you can handle the heat (and a little competition), summer may be the one of the best times of year to buy. Now that the spring home buying craze is over, most home prices return to normal, allowing you to save some money. The sunniest time of the year also makes being outdoors and attending open houses more enjoyable.

The hot temperatures also give home buyers the opportunity to test how well a property's air conditioning system holds up in warm weather, which is something they can't usually test during other times of the year.

October to December. The main downside of buying a house in autumn is that there may not be as many homes for sale in the fall as there are in the spring. But it's not like the market goes completely quiet.

Many home buyers consider fall the best time of year to buy a house because of price reductions. Because home sellers tend to list their homes in the spring, sellers whose houses haven't sold yet may be motivated to find buyers, and prices start to reflect that.

Is This a Good Year to Buy a House?
Economic forecasts vary every year, but waiting around for annual market fluctuations isn't the best way to decide when to buy a house. The best year to buy a house is when you and anyone you intend to buy a house with are ready.

To help, complete this home buying worksheet with your home buying partner to help determine if now is the best time to buy a house you can reasonably afford in the location you want. Then take your worksheet to a REALTOR® and discuss your options.

Why doesn't the year matter much? The housing market and your local real estate market do change, but they tend to change gradually. Even if waiting a couple of years for those factors to change can save you a bit of money, the bigger question is how much more money you could gain in equity by owning a home during those two years.

While everyone's financial situation will be different deciding when to buy a house is mostly about the timing that is best for you, not when the market is perfect.

Are Interest Rates Good?
Many home buyers try to time the market by monitoring mortgage rate changes with the hopes of pouncing on a remarkably low rate. But interest rates are like the stock market — no one has a crystal ball that can accurately predict when rates will rise or fall.

Plus, what's considered a good interest rate is relative. Interest rates today are low compared to what they were 20 to 30 years ago. Mortgage rates reached an all-time high of 18.45% in 1981, as the U.S. Federal Reserve drove up rates in an effort to counteract double-digital inflation. By the end of the 1980s, though, mortgage rates had finally crept below 10%.

Interest rates continued to decrease over the 1990s and 2000s. Today, mortgage rates are at historic lows.

Market interest rates are just one part of how affordable a house will be for you at any given time. Your credit score, for example, helps to determine the interest rate a mortgage lender will offer you.

Then, fluctuations in property taxes and homeowner's insurance can affect overall home ownership costs as much as changes in interest rates can. So overall, current interest rates play a pretty small role in the best time to buy a house for you.

Does Today's Economy Support Home Buying?
Economic conditions are different from region to region and even from one ZIP code to another in the same city, so whether this year is the best time to buy a house can depend on where you are.

One tool you can use to assess the state of your local housing market is realtor.com®'s Market Hotness Index, which tracks home sales and home buyer activity across the country. In addition, the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) measures monthly single-family home sales in the four major U.S. regions (Northeast, Midwest, South, and West).

Still, nothing beats having a savvy real estate agent in your corner to gauge the local market for the best time to buy a house. After all, the right agent knows your local housing market down to the neighborhoods — and can help you interpret the raw housing market data to help you time your home purchase well.

When Is the Best Time in Your Life to Buy a House?
There's no magical age or life stage at which you'll know for sure exactly when to buy a house. There are, however, a few factors you'll want to take into account.

Finances. How's your credit score? Can you afford to take on a monthly mortgage payment? Do you have enough cash to pay for a down payment and closing costs? Sit down with a mortgage lender who can help you evaluate your finances.

You'll also need to budget for home maintenance expenses. One rule of thumb says homeowners should set aside 1% to 3% of their home's purchase price a year for home maintenance and repairs. So, if your home cost $400,000, you'd set aside at least $4,000 annually. (Doing preventative maintenance, however, can go a long way toward staving off expensive repairs.)

Stability. If you’re on solid ground financially, with a stable job to support you, buying a home can be a way to lower your monthly housing costs (real talk: Owning is often cheaper than renting in some cities), gain a valuable financial asset, and, if you itemize, reap some tax benefits.

If you're ready to commit to a home and city (and your job) for a few years, you're probably in a stable enough situation to be a homeowner.

Lifestyle: Owning a house allows you to develop a strong relationship with a local community. Buying a home should align with your life goals. If you're starting a family soon, planting your roots in a kid-friendly neighborhood with a great school district is usually a good reason to buy a house.

There's also something to be said about the pride of owning a home and having a place you can call yours — one that you can customize to your heart's desire.

Should You Buy or Rent?
To rent or to buy a home — it's a common conundrum. Often this is the core financial decision potential home buyers wrestle with when deciding when to buy a house. To sort it out, start with your exit plan.

If you expect to be moving within the next couple of years, you probably should rent. Why? Because the general rule is it only makes sense to buy if you plan to stay in the home for at least two to three years.

Likewise, if you're not ready to take on the maintenance responsibilities of being a homeowner, or aren't ready to commit to a particular community right now, renting an apartment likely makes more sense than buying a home.

The local housing market is also a factor in the decision to buy or rent. In some cities, renting can be cheaper than owning, though price appreciation often brings wealth to buyers. Therefore, the financial benefits of owning a home and gaining equity over time is a better way to spend your money than forking it over to a landlord.

Investing vs. Living
The best time to buy a house for the first time is generally when you're ready to live there long term. Long term, real estate can be a lucrative path towards financial success, particularly if you can nab a low interest rate in the right housing market.

But a lot of factors go into whether buying an investment property is the right move for you, including how much risk you can tolerate and the local economy.

Generally, it's smart to consider your first home purchase all about you. It's about investing in a place you can make your own and live your life day to day.

The moral? There's nothing quite like home ownership. While not everyone is ready for it, if you've determined the best time to buy a house is right now, it can be the beginning of the most satisfying journey of your life.

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