Trulia has built a neat tool based on their database of historical property values. Trulia Hindsight uses property values from the database to animate real estate development over time. From their FAQ:
What is Trulia Hindsight?
Trulia Hindsight is an animated map of residential properties in the USA that allows you to see when neighborhoods and cities were built. Slider controls allow you to view a specific time range or drag through the timeline. You can also search for specific properties, areas or cities through the search box.
You can zoom in on specific suburbs or neighborhoods to see a more detailed view of the development progress. See how Austin’s first suburb – Hyde Park, grew up.
Tuesday, June 26th, 2007 at 11:34 pm By Ryan Brown
I know what you’re thinking… “Is that a load-bearing dog??” Well, it’s probably better than a load-bearing poster…
It’s always fun to peruse beautiful photos of amazing homes, but what about the other side of the spectrum? The This Old House website has multiple photo galleries dedicated to Home Inspection Nightmares. These photos demonstrate what a creative person with blatant disregard for health & safety can accomplish. It’s amazing.
Check out the Home Inspection Nightmare Galleries, and remember them the next time you purchase a home. A buyer must make the most of the option period to learn about any hidden defects in the property, and devise a plan for repairs or concessions from the seller.
Schedule the inspection as soon as is feasible. The home inspector may find issues that require a follow-up inspection or estimate from a contractor.
Don’t get too attached to the home before the inspection. Yes, you have a great home under contract, but if a major problem is discovered, and the seller won’t budge, then you have to be prepared to walk away.
Be present when the inspector visits the home. Inspection reports are very terse. Being on-site will allow the inspector to explain the issues they find, and give you a better idea of how serious they are. I always learn new things when shadowing an inspector.
If you have any questions about the foundation of an older home call a local foundation repair company. Usually they have repaired foundations in the neighborhood and can offer insight into the soil conditions and the likelihood of repairs. If there are cracks in the walls or floors you can also ask for a repair estimate.
Here in Texas it’s a good idea to also have the inspector check for ‘wood destroying insects’ (termites, carpenter ants, etc.). Repairing termite damage can be very costly.
Don’t Panic. Even these “Nightmare” photos can be fixed (some more expensively than others). Just be sure to get an estimate from a contractor and use this as part of your negotiations in the purchase of the home.
Buyers rarely find problems as ridiculous as those in the ‘This Old House’ Home Inspection Nightmare Galleries, however even brand new homes often have a few items that can be fixed/improved. Make the most of the option period and gather as much information as possible.
Add your home inspection tips in the comments section below.
In the spirit of the Cool Homes Tour here are some famous Green Homes that may be of interest:
The Lighthouse – Watford, UK
The Lighthouse is reported to be the UK’s first zero emission home. It was built at the BRE Innovation Park(which you can tour) as part of the Offsite 2007 sustainable building showcase. It and the other showcase homes serve as an example of beautiful & sustainable design. The Lighthouse was designed by Sheppard Robson. Check out their website for other impressive green projects (Be warned, it’s a flash site, but it’s worth it).
Coming off the Austin Cool House tour, The EcoManor may not be what you would expect. It looks like a large, opulent home, but the website touts it as
the first house ever to be certified by three of the country’s leading green initiatives (U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, Greater Atlanta HBA’s EarthCraft House program and National Wildlife Federation’s Backyard Wildlife Habitat program)
Clearly a lot of thought was put into the design and materials used in the space, and the website is a good resource. My favorite feature is the Building Dashboard from Lucid Design Group. It displays resource consumption in real time, allowing homeowners to adjust their habits with instant feedback. Very cool. More on that in a future post.
Government Canyon Visitor Center – Helotes, TX
Every year the American Institute of Architects publishes a list of the Top 10 Green Buildings. This year the Government Canyon Visitor Center in nearby Helotes, TX made the list. Check out the link for the green details, I just love the design. As the name suggests, it’s a Texas Parks & Wildlife Visitor Center, open to the public. I can’t wait to check it out.
I visited most of the homes on the Cool Homes Tour today, and I felt it was worthwhile. I think past Cool House tours have featured more architecturally interesting homes, but this year’s homes probably had more green features than ever. This is probably due to ‘green homes’ becoming far more mainstream (especially in Austin) than in years past. I do think that the landscaping of each home this year was well done across the board (where complete).
My favorite Green House:
Probably a toss-up between House #3 (Hyde Park ‘This Old House’ remodel & addition) and House #7 (Najvar & Chappell Residence). They were both excellent examples using green building features & materials to augment the design of the home.
The ‘This Old House’ remodel demonstrated how to mix modern materials/design elements with traditional architecture. I loved the high windows in the upstairs with recessed lighting. That is a great touch that really brightens up the interior of the house. The Ice Stone Countertops in the kitchen and upstairs bath were an excellent choice (and seemed popular with tour-goers), although I preferred the simple honed limestone in the downstairs bath.
With Solar Panels, rainwater collection, recycled & sustainable materials, efficient HVAC, etc. this home was impressively green (5-star rated). Builder Bill Moore took great care to preserve as much of the existing home as possible, while still building a clean, healthy, new home.
House #7 (Najvar & Chappell Residence) was at the end of a private alley and had an amazing view to the southwest. The mainfloor living area and covered porch were perfectly oriented to the views and the prevailing winds. With multiple windows on every wall the home was filled with daylight – even in the shower – and still remained very private inside. The clean built-in bookshelves/cabinets and ‘trimless’ finish out completed the clean and modern design.
Other cool features of note:
House #4 (The Elton Project, Barley & Pfeiffer Architects) had quite a variety in light fixtures. Standing in the Kitchen I could see incandescent, halogen, xenon, compact flourescent, and LED fixtures. I think this was partially for the tour, however the builder – Risinger Homes was very knowledgeable about each of the fixtures, and explained the costs and benefits of each. I was impressed most by the LED fixtures, as they performed as well or better than common incandescant cans lights. Of course, they cost $120 each! Check out guidebook sponsor Lighting Science for details.
House #5 (Smith & Esparza Residence, Northfield Design Associates) looked great from the street. The copper siding was an excellent touch, as was the simple but beautiful landscaping.
My observations on the tour itself:
The homes seemed more crowded than before, which may have been due to there only being 8 homes (past tours have had 9 or 10 if memory serves).
It’s unfortunate that a ‘green homes’ tour requires thousands of cars to drive all over town, but I don’t know of any other way to provide first hand exposure to these homes. Hopefully the carbon cost of the transportation is exceeded by the carbon savings of the green homes built & improved as a result of the tour.
To avoid the crowd – don’t follow the order of the guidebook.
Homes with contractors/architects positioned outside seemed to have less traffic jams inside.
What did you think? Leave comments on your favorite homes and features.
The Austin Cool House Tour is upon us (see Previous Post for details). I bought my tickets today and the lineup looks great, as do the vendors who will be represented.
To help you plan your day (if you don’t yet have a guidebook) I posted a google version of the map below. As the guidebook says:
Please respect the privacy of the generous homeowners and visit these houses only during the public tour hours: noon-6 pm, June 24, 2007.
Austin Cool House Tour 2007 Map:
The locations are approximate (not gauranteed), but should be within a few hundred feet of the homes.
Have I mentioned how much I love Google Maps & Google Earth? Such powerful tools that allow us to easily convey information for a relatively small time investment. And best of all – they are free! It reminds me of this quote from Oliver Wendell Holmes :
“I would not give a fig for the simplicity this side of complexity, but I would give my life for the simplicity on the other side of complexity.”
Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 12:09 am 
By Ryan Brown
No Comments - Filed under Austin, Tools
I loved the high windows in the upstairs with recessed lighting. That is a great touch that really brightens up the interior of the house. The 
House #4 (The Elton Project, 
