I had to laugh being a veteran ‘Burner’ for almost two decades at social media and news posts that came into Burning Man this past Labor Day weekend. From Mike Lee declaring the flood on the Playa as ‘God’s Judgement’ on us for ‘for engaging in lewd and sexually charged events at the festival’ to all of us having Ebola, to hearing the National Guard had been called out to control the 72,000 of us stuck in the mud those days. We got 1” of rain, which for an area that gets a total of 6” per year…that was a lot in a short period of time. The desert itself always has extreme weather and temps as evidenced by 2002’s Burn with heat @103° in the afternoons and high winds that made white-out conditions impassable to cross the Playa. We come prepared with all the things like extra tarps, water, food, spare tires, trailers, RV’s and the like. Newbies (we used to call them ‘virgins’ before BM got woke) often don’t come prepared and bring tents without enough preparedness for rain.

When it rains out there, and it does, Burners are told to stay in place and to find shelter as fast as possible. The Playa which is on BLM and Paiute land is like the Bonneville Salt Flats in that it’s a really flat hard packed surface most of the time. As Utah has salt as the base, the Playa has alkaline dirt that when wet acts just like clay. BM only provides porto potties to its citizens, and for those who didn’t have a trailer or RV, you have to wear plastic bags on your feet and slide to the Johns, or wear socks because the mud doesn’t stick as much for some reason.  If you are wearing shoes the sticky clay-like mud will accumulate 4-6” on your shoe soles, bike and car tires and you can’t move!  It took a few days for the desert to dry out but we discovered the Playa wasn’t completely flat, as certain areas continued to be flooded lake-front property even through exodus.

Certainly you saw on social media the 10-lanes of vehicles leaving the Playa, which for them took 6-12 hours to get from dirt to tarmac? We left at 4:30 AM and there was no wait line because we know not to leave during the BM rush hours. Lot’s of folks wanted to escape early and there was evidence of cars stuck in the mud from too-early of a retreat home and of course you saw Diplo and Chris Rock who had hiked 5-6 miles out to flag down a fan to get them home? They most likely flew into the Playa and no planes were leaving in our unique airport that is built from scratch and taken down just after the event.

 

 

Now that the $20,000 grant has become available for 2,400 potential homebuyers of new construction under $450,000 has been released through the Utah Housing Corp., some of you lucky folks will be buying homes that might be almost finished inside. If you are so lucky to have found something in this age of low inventory, congrats and know that it’s really important to get a full inspection before signing the final paperwork to close escrow.

I have found over the years that buyers who purchase a home or condo to be built or under construction are not counseled to have an independent home inspection prior to closing. They generally have several meetings with the builder reps and trust that all the sub-contractors of the builder are all terrific and do a great job. Well, not always. Earlier this spring I was working with buyers who were working with one of the developers in Daybreak. The husband had some building experience and went to the new construction project every few days to watch the progress. As the concrete was poured and the framing started, problems began to surface. The concrete in some places cracked immediately and was very noticeable with the front stairs pulling away from the house. He noticed that several beams in the roofing trusses that had been delivered to the site had large cracks in them. More things about the construction process became noticeable and he called local officials/engineers to come inspect the work and lo and behold, they agreed with the problems and wrote up the builder to fix them. Sadly, the sub-contractors in several cases hid their shoddy work and continued to install broken trusses. The buyers wanted out because they had lost all faith in the builder and for a moment the company wasn’t going to allow them to bail and get their earnest money back. With a call from the buyers attorney the money was refunded immediately and they bought another home.

Just before closing escrow I suggest buyers hire a home inspector to check that the roof looks installed properly, the main electrical panel does not have a lot of ‘double tapping’, the HVAC and water heater appear to be working properly, etc. A ‘roof to foundation’ inspection. One time on a home in Cranberry in Draper, my buyers and I found out that the home they were about to purchase had never been connected to a gas line, nor had a gas line been stubbed into the lot! A home inspection can be $300-500 or so and you get a 30+ page report with photos. I suggest getting a radon test if there’s a basement and even a sewer line scope to make sure the pipe wasn’t cracked or is sagging upon installation.

Be careful and protect yourself before buying any home or condo, new or used. It will save you a ton of money in the long run!

First time home buyers or folks who haven’t owned a home in the past three years should be jumping up and down now that the $20,000 has been authorized/released from the State Legislature for qualified buyers. BUT it’s not as wonderful as it seems.

First, only 2,400 qualified homebuyers will be able to get the funds through the First-time Homebuyer Assistance Program.

Second, you can’t buy a home that costs over $450,000.

Third, and this is a biggie…you can only buy NEW CONSTRUCTION.   This last requirement was lobbied by developers and may not help that many people wanting to live in certain areas. There’s very little new affordable construction going on in rural areas of the state, and almost none close-in to downtown Salt Lake City except for a few townhomes. When searching the WFRMLS for new construction properties in the Salt Lake Valley, a whopping 37 show up under $450,000 and all are townhomes. Townhomes may be great for some, but often they have many stairs so that differently abled persons and seniors could not buy one. Utah County had 74 properties with only two home subdivisions (not townhomes) in Eagle Mountain and Spanish Fork. Davis County had a mere 9 available, again, all townhomes. Washington County also had 9 properties, mostly townhomes, with a few one level homes available in Hurricane. Summit County has NO properties that fit the requirements and Wasatch County has one newly constructed home in Daniel for $160,000. Many builders do NOT list their properties on an MLS and so buyers have to drive around or hunt and peck on the interweb to find other options.

Townhomes are similar to condos in that some have HOA fees for exterior insurance, water, sewer and grounds maintenance. Depending on the subdivision you may or may not own the land underneath the unit. They are a great housing alternative for some because they are an affordable option for some and offer a ‘lock and leave lifestyle’ if the exterior landscaping is paid for in a monthly fee. The most common floorplan is living space above a two car garage, with the second level the kitchen, great room and probably a half bath, and laundry and the rest of the bedrooms/ baths on the second floor.

IF you think you’ve found housing that fits the rules for the program, your first step is to get pre-approved with a participating lender to get credit-qualified. The $20K loan is 0% interest with no monthly payments and can be used toward the down payment and/or closing costs. When you refinance or sell the property you have to repay the amount borrowed OR 50% of the home equity.

For more information, contact a local mortgage broker who can qualify you and spell out the numbers for you for a loan. I don’t suggest internet brokers as they may not be familiar with the program. And check out utahhousing.org.

If you travel to NYC and happen by Central Park, you’ll most likely see the park’s horse carriages for hire. They generally seat four humans and cost about $150 for a 45 minute tour of the lower end of the park. Salt Lake City used to have carriage rides but in August of 2013 a carriage horse by the name of Jerry collapsed and died from heat stroke downtown. It was captured on video and went viral, and 15 months later the City Council unanimously outlawed horse drawn carriages in the capitol city.  If you’re walking or driving around the downtown/Avenues area and periodically see a large sandstone block in front of a home, generally very close to the curb, you’ve stumbled onto a wee bit of history here. I drive by these blocks of stone all the time-there are five I know of just on South Temple alone at 529 E, 731 E, 808 E, 1135 E and one at 1167 E with the name ‘Lynch’ carved into it, which was probably the name of the original home owners that lived there.  Back in the day before cars, there were wagons, carriages, and horses to get you from here to there. Many standing homes in Salt Lake, especially in the Marmalade, Avenues, University, Harvard/Yale and Sugar House areas still have carriage houses and even small barns where the ‘transportation’ was kept at night. Nowadays these structures are either small garages or have been converted to studios or ADU’s.

Sandstone carriage steps in Salt Lake City were essential in the city’s early days. In the mid-19th century, when Mormon pioneers settled in the Salt Lake Valley, they brought with them their knowledge of construction and architectural traditions. The use of sandstone for use in foundations for homes and businesses, which is abundant in the surrounding Wasatch Mountains, became prevalent due to its durability as rock and its availability nearby in Red Butte Canyon. The point of the big square rock by the curb was to allow humans to be able to get up onto a horse or vehicle without using a ladder. They served as both a practical and decorative element in front of homes and public buildings, and were a symbol of social status. The steps were sometimes meticulously carved and crafted by skilled stonemasons, adding an element of elegance to the streetscape. They are generally about 1’ tall, 2’ wide and 2’ long.

Are they protected? Michaela Oktay, SLC Planner says “,The Historic Overlay would protect any carriage steps from being removed if they were on a landmark site or a within a local historic district. I have never had someone actually want to remove them to my knowledge. Generally, they are in the right of way, the city owns that land and would also have to approve removal if they were alerted to the removal.”

 

Wasatch mountain ski resorts had more snowfall than any other recorded year in history. Utah isn’t unique, the Sierras and Colorado’s Rocky Mountains got hammered too.  Happily this translates into the end of the multi-year drought that’s been plaquing the West for several years, as lakes and reservoirs fill and rivers are running high-with several feeding into the Great Salt Lake. Now sail boats are back on our salty sea and rocks are getting covered up at Lake Powell. We can cross our fingers this is a trend for wet and not for dry!  The local news educated us this past year when the Great Salt Lake got to its lowest point on record that most of the water use in Utah is for agriculture. Did you know our clover hay is considered almost equal to gold bullion overseas? Pricey feed!

We cannot relax our water use ever again in this state. Global warming is real and now we know that if the lake goes, we all will probably vanish, either by death of toxic air or by moving the hell out of Utah.  So now we’re officially in summer and some people are sprinkling their lawns and landscaping helter skelter, wasting water every damn day. Utah Water Savers wants you to get paid to replace your grass with water-efficient landscaping knowing that the future of wet years may not be real. You can earn a cash incentive when you upgrade your thirsty lawns to water-wise plants, trees and shrubs. You could increase your curb appeal, decrease maintenance requirements and reduce water use and your water bill. These incentives are not just for residences but commercial, industrial and institutional properties as well that currently having living grass. If you are connected to a municipal water system and you’re not in arrears with your water bill, you can qualify if you do the prescribed landscape upgrades within 12 months from getting approved for the program. There are a few rules to qualify: 1) plant-coverage minimums and grass-covered maxims; 2) grass is prohibited on park strips, slopes, and in areas less than 8-feet wide. You can get $.50-$3.00 per square foot depending on where your water comes from (i.e. Weber Basin, Central Utah, Jordan Valley, etc.).

One of the best things you can do right now is a sprinkler performance test. You can get ‘catch cans’ from the USU Extension County Offices or use a can to collect sprinkler water to measure the depth of water in say, one hour of watering. In SL County it’s 0.5 inches for turfgrass. Right now you should be watering every three days, until September when it’s every six days. If you want to get paid to paid to replace your grass, contact www.utahwatersavers.org. The project minimum to qualify may vary depending on your water district, and you must be pre-approved for the program. The website gives you info to perform your own site inspection on water use.