Jim Smith's Blog

You’re probably aware that buyers typically pay nothing to be represented by a Realtor in a real estate transaction, because in virtually all transactions the listing agent splits his or her listing commission with the buyer’s agent.  It’s called a “co-op commission” because the buyer’s agent (also known as the “selling” agent) is cooperating with the listing agent in the sale of his or her listing. My own analysis reveals that 95% of residential transactions involve both a listing and selling agent.

Builders of new homes also offer a co-op commission when a buyer has an agent, yet in too many cases, buyers deal directly with the builder’s salesperson and do not take advantage of the opportunity to have an agent on their side. It’s similar to buying an automobile from a dealer — the salesperson isn’t your friend.

This is particularly unfortunate when you realize that you pay just as much for the house when the builder doesn’t have to compensate your agent. You gain nothing and lose a lot when you buy a new home without professional representation.

I did a survey of 45 builder salespersons and the Realtors who put builders’ homes on the MLS, and learned that as few as half their transactions are with buyers who have an agent representing them.

In case it’s not obvious that you’re better off having your own agent when buying a home from a builder, let me point out some ways that having an agent on your side can benefit you.

First of all, your agent can tell you whether the builder is using the buyer-friendly state purchase contract or – as is usually the case – a contract prepared by the builder’s attorney. Any contract prepared by a builder’s attorney is written to protect the builder, not you. Although a real estate agent is allowed to interpret the state contract to buyers, only a lawyer can explain or interpret a builder’s contract. Your agent can refer you to a trusted real estate attorney who will help you understand the contract before you sign it.

It’s fair to say that a builder’s sales representative will not give as much weight as your agent would to the importance of consulting a real estate attorney. That salesperson also may not stress the importance of hiring a professional home inspector to make sure the home is well built and built to code.

Just because a home is new does not guarantee that it was properly built, or even built to code.  I always recommend having a home inspector make three visits when you buy a new home — once after framing is complete but before the drywall is installed, and a second time prior to closing. You’d be surprised what these inspections can uncover. I also recommend a third visit a year later, before the builder’s warranty expires.

One thing your agent can tell you is whether the deposit money you provide at contract time is non-refundable (as is usually the case) and whether you’ll be spending thousands of dollars, not only for design-center upgrades but also for window coverings and landscaping, including a sprinkler system.

Your agent can also tell you whether the builder has created a “metropolitan tax district,” which means that you, not the builder, will be paying hundreds or thousands of dollars in extra property taxes for up to 30 years to cover the community’s infrastructure costs, including streets, sidewalks, and sewers.

If you hire an agent from Golden Real Estate, you’ll also get assistance with your moving costs, including use of our moving trucks, moving boxes, packing materials and labor. Don’t shortchange yourself by not engaging one of us in the purchase of your new home.  Call us at 303-302-3636.

 

As with most Realtors, real estate was not my first career. I started out as a newspaper reporter/editor/publisher, then transitioned to typography, using the typesetting equipment I had purchased for my newspapers.

Just as I’ve never let go of my love of journalism, I’ve never let go of my love of typography. I design and compose this full page ad myself every week, and I take pleasure in making it as well written and readable as possible. The choice of typefaces for headlines and text is a big part of that.

If I had my choice, the text typeface in my newspaper ads would not be 10 point Arial Narrow but a serif typeface like Times Roman. “Serifs” are those subtle accents at the bottoms, tops and ends of letters, but they play a huge role in readability.  Sans-serif typefaces like Arial or Helvetica don’t have those accents.  [This blog post is in Times Roman.]

At right is a Times Roman letter with serifs next to an Arial letter without serifs. Can you see how much those little serifs improve readability, especially for smaller type sizes?

As a typographer, I learned that serif typefaces should be used for text, and that sans-serif typefaces should be used only for headlines, subheads, captions, and other limited-text applications.

You’ll notice that most newspapers, magazines and books — but not most websites — follow this rule, with Times Roman the most common text typeface. The Denver Post doesn’t let me use Times Roman lest my ad be mistaken for editorial content. Compare my Arial Narrow text with the same size type in that newspaper’s news stories, and you’ll probably agree that those little serifs make text more readable. Also notice that sans-serif headlines and sub-heads work really well when combined with serif body text.

Unfortunately, Microsoft, seemingly unaware of these typographic principles, has from the beginning made sans serif typefaces like Calibri the default typefaces for Outlook, also making the default size fairly small. Given that space is not a limitation in emails or websites, it’s sad that this has become the standard. Note: You can change the default font and type size for outgoing emails in Outlook and other applications.  I use 12 pt. Georgia, a particularly readable serif typeface.

Another annoyance, especially for us older Americans, is the use of thin, gray sans-serif type instead of black serif typefaces in so many websites.  Don’t webmasters value readability?

 

Judging from my own email, there has been a huge spike recently in email scams targeting real estate agents and their clients. For several months I have been getting emails with subject lines such as “Clear to Close” or “Document Delivery Notice,” with links to “View Documents.”

Many of the emails appear to have a PDF attachment, but when you click on the attachment, then you see a link to “open” that PDF.  I worry that some of my colleagues or their clients might fall prey to this or similar scams.

DocuSign is a well-known software for signing real estate documents, and often the email asks me to click on a link to view a DocuSign contract or settlement statement for some transaction it doesn’t identify and that I wasn’t expecting. One should never click on that link. This can be tempting to an unaware agent.

I can’t tell you what exactly the scam is because I haven’t clicked on any of those links. If any of you readers have clicked on such links, I’d like you to share your experience with me.

Another popular scam involves sending an email giving buyers wiring instructions for their down payment. In many cases buyers’ money was lost forever.  These emails might appear to be from your agent or title company, but they aren’t.  Always call your agent or title company to verify any such email.

Our office has a business subscription to Microsoft Office 365, and often my agents and I receive emails aimed at compromising our Office 365 accounts. The subject line is often “Account Login Attempt,” and the text claims that someone knows my login details and has used it to access my email account. The text of the email contains my email address to make it seem authentic. It goes on to say that a lock has been placed on my email account and that I need to click on a link to restore access. Of course I ignore and delete these messages. How many of my colleagues (and readers of this column) have fallen victim to such emails?  I’d like to hear from them/you.

There’s a simple way to identify links you should not click on. Float your cursor over the link (don’t click!) to display the true link address. What you saw in the message is likely not what you would get if you click on it! Often it will be for a web address from a foreign country, whose 2-letter initials take the place of .com.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a mortgage broker — frankly, I don’t think real estate agents should be in that business — but I know enough about VA loans to say that any veteran purchasing a home with a mortgage should ask their lender whether a VA loan might be right for them.

This is particularly true for veterans with a 10% or greater disability, because for them the VA funding fee is waived, making a VA loan an easy choice over a conventional, FHA or even a jumbo loan.

A VA jumbo loan is one that is in excess of the conforming limit, which varies by county (the limit in Jeffco, for example is $493,350). You may think that the VA loan limit is that amount, but that’s merely the limit for 100% financing. You can borrow much more than that amount — up to $1.5 million — as long as you put down at least 25% of the difference between the purchase price and the VA limit.

The following useful information about VA loans was gleaned from the VA’s website:

VA home loans are provided by private lenders, such as banks and mortgage companies. VA guarantees a portion of the loan, enabling your lender to provide you with more favorable terms, including:

• No down payment as long as the sales price doesn’t exceed the appraised value.
• No private mortgage insurance premium requirement.
• VA rules limit the amount you can be charged for closing costs.
• Closing costs may be paid by the seller.
• The lender can’t charge you a penalty fee if you pay the loan off early.
• VA may be able to provide you some assistance if you run into difficulty making payments.

You should also know that:

• You don’t have to be a first-time homebuyer.
• You can reuse the benefit.
• VA-backed loans are assumable, as long as the person assuming the loan qualifies.

You must have satisfactory credit [Wells Fargo requires a credit score above 600], sufficient income, and a valid Certificate of Eligibility (COE) to be eligible for a VA-guaranteed home loan. The home must be for your own personal occupancy [not for a rental or investment property]. The eligibility requirements to obtain a COE are listed below for service members, veterans, spouses and other eligible beneficiaries.

VA home loans can be used to:

• Buy a home or a condominium unit in a  VA-approved project
• Build a home
• Simultaneously purchase and improve a home
• Improve a home by installing energy-related features or making energy efficient improvements
• Buy a manufactured home on land
• To refinance an existing VA-guaranteed or direct loan for the purpose of a lower interest rate
•  To refinance an existing mortgage loan or other indebtedness secured by a lien of record on a residence owned and occupied by the veteran as a home.

Fortunately, a VA regional loan center — one of only nine in the country — is located in Lakewood, at 155 Van Gordon Street. They should be able to provide you with the required Certificate of Eligibility.

Eligibility (visit http://benefits.va.gov/homeloans for more information) varies by the type and length of your military service, whether you are disabled or a surviving spouse who has not remarried.

Come to our VA Homebuyer Workshop Tonight!

Whether a VA loan is right for you is not always easy to determine, so Golden Real Estate has partnered with Wells Fargo to host a VA Homebuyer Workshop this Thursday, November 30th, from 6 to 7 pm, at VFW Post 1, 841 Santa Fe Drive, Denver.  RSVP to Bernie Bernfeld at 303-273-6373, or call or text me at 303-525-1851.

Bernie specializes in VA loans for Wells Fargo and would be happy to answer your questions if you can’t attend the workshop.

 

As an active Realtor, you can imagine how many phone calls and text messages I receive, even while driving.  The iPhone’s “Siri” feature was designed to allow users access to phone, text and other functions – safely – even while driving.  (Yes, I know it’s illegal.)

By turning on “Hey Siri” in Settings, I’m able to leave my iPhone in my breast pocket or on my car’s console. Incoming phone calls are not a problem, because, with Bluetooth activated, I just press a button on my steering wheel to answer. For making calls, all I do (without taking my eyes off the road or hands off the wheel) is say, “Hey, Siri, call so-and-so” or “Hey, Siri, dial [number].” I don’t need to hold the phone near my mouth, as Siri can hear me and respond from across a room!

When I hear my text message alert, I say, “Hey, Siri, read text message.” The iPhone reads the message and asks if I want to reply. If I say “yes,” it takes my dictation, reads it back to me and asks if I’m ready to send it.  I can also say, “Hey, Siri, send a text message to so-and-so.” and the iPhone replies, “What would you like to say to so-and-so?”, takes my dictation, reads it back to me and asks if I’m ready to send it. If I reply “no,” the message is saved for editing and sending later.  All this without taking my eyes off the road or my hands off the steering wheel!  Try it, you’ll like it and be safer.

My bicycle has a phone holder on its handle bars, which allows me to use these same features while bicycling, too.

 

By JIM SMITH, Realtor®

I’ve written in the past about how winter can be a great time of year to sell a home, as there’s often less competition for buyers’ attention due to lower inventory.  Also, buyers who may have failed to secure a home earlier in the year are still out there, and still getting auto emails with new listings (yours?) that match their search criteria.

But let’s look at winter from the buyer’s perspective for a moment. Here are some reasons that buyers might want to include house hunting in their holiday shopping plans.

First of all, it’s likely you’ll be competing with fewer other buyers, particularly in the weeks leading up to Christmas. This could make it easier to land the home you fall in love with.

Second, homeowners who put their home on the market during December may be a bit more motivated to sell for reasons that may or may not be disclosed.

For example, there could be a job relocation, or they may have tax considerations making them want to consummate the sale before year’s end. Check the days on market for each listing. If the home was listed in the summer or early fall, the seller may be in a position to settle for less now that it’s December.

You, as a buyer, may have tax considerations of  your own. Some of your mortgage closing costs are tax deductible, so you may want to close in December to get those deductions a year earlier.

On the other hand, if you close on a home in January from an elderly seller who has a senior property tax exemption, that tax exemption applies to you, too, for the entire 2018 tax year. (That benefit is based on who owned the house on Jan. 1st.) Weigh this against other tax considerations before deciding whether to close on that house in December versus January.

 

Perhaps you’ve heard of the ancient Chinese art of Feng Shui (pronounced Fung Shway). As explained at www.dummies.com, “It enhances your environment according to principles of harmony and energy flow. Whether you’re aware of it or not, your environment — and your relationship with it — are constantly affecting you. Consequently, your best bet for a healthy, happy, and successful life is to make your environment work for you through the practice of Feng Shui.”

I have only a passing familiarity with it, and find that some of its principles are, dare I say, a little “woo-woo,” but other principles make eminent sense and I believe that I have benefited from applying them.

For example, it is believed that open drains, including open toilet seats, allow energy (or “chi”) to be drained from your home, so Rita and I are diligent about keeping the lids down on our home’s (and office’s) toilets. Besides, it looks better, don’t you think? I advise sellers to do the same while their home is on the market.

Clutter is a big no-no. I remember when I owned an office building on Capitol Hill in the early 1990s, it had a side yard that was filled with debris and trash. I paid little attention to clearing it out since it wasn’t visible to passers-by, but a Feng Shui consultant urged me to clean it out, and when I did, I was noticeably more successful in attracting tenants.

One principle that makes sense to me, but that I tend not to practice, is that of keeping my desk clear of clutter. I know I feel better when I have cleared my desk. I remember being told during a tour of RE/MAX International’s executive offices that co-founder Gail Liniger had a strict rule that every desk must be cleared before leaving work each night. It’s easy to imagine the psychological effect of that practice, and it sounds as if Gail’s rule might be rooted in Feng Shui principles.

By JIM SMITH, Realtor®

Excuse me for getting a little nerdy here, but it’s important to know the difference between “median” and “average” when studying the real estate market, and here’s why.

Let’s say an area has five home sales: one at $300,000, a second at $325,000, a third at $330,000, a fourth at $400,000 and a fifth at $1.2 million.  The average sale price would be $511,000, a huge increase over the previous year when all the sales were under $400,000. The median sale price would be $330,000, because half the sales were under that price and half were over.

Now let’s look at “Days on Market.” Let’s say those five homes took 1, 2, 5, 7, and 150 days to go under contract. The average days on market would have been 33, while the median would have been only 5 days. Which is more useful?

These two hypothetical scenarios are precisely what we’re seeing in the real estate market. Luxury homes are selling much more quickly than they have in years past,  inflating the average sales price, whereas the median sales price by definition discards both the lowest and highest data points, providing a more accurate picture of what’s happening in the market.

    At right is a chart comparing 2017 average days on market to median days on market.   Homes that take a long time to sell — particularly in the current market — are almost invariably overpriced.  The amount of time these homes languish on the market artificially increases the average days on market.  The median days on market is a much better reflection of the market.

Despite this, we continue to hear statisticians and market analysts tell us the changes in the average sale price or the average days on market instead of giving us the more meaningful median statistics.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday – a non-denominational opportunity to reflect on the past year and our current situation.

I subscribe to the teaching that what we dwell on affects what we draw to ourselves. For example, if we think we might fail at a task, we are more likely to fail, but if we think we’ll succeed, we’re more likely to succeed. Some people refer to this as the “law of attraction.”

That’s why I like Thanksgiving, because it causes me to dwell on what I’m thankful for – not my regrets, not my failures, not what went wrong, but what went right and the good people in my life.

Well, I have a lot to be thankful for!

First of all, I’m thankful to be married to Rita, who always thinks positively and now shares her positive energy with me and the broker associates at Golden Real Estate as our office manager.  Her positive orientation is evident in our house, where she has such phrases as “How Does It Get Any Better Than This?” and “What Else is Possible?” printed on our family room wall.  How did I get so lucky as to attract this woman into my life?  I’m forever grateful for that!

Rita and I have no children together, but we have three “adopted daughters” — three women who consider us “Mama Ri” and “Papa Jim.”  Thank you, Kristin in Kansas City, Ashley in Centennial, and Benedikte in Seattle, for honoring us with your love.

Secondly, I’m thankful for our great broker associates at Golden Real Estate.  In order of seniority, they are:

Jim Swanson, who worked beside me at Coldwell Banker and RE/Max Alliance before joining Golden Real Estate when Rita and I founded it in 2007.  He’s our native Goldenite, living ½ mile from our office.

 

Carrie Lovingier lived in Golden when she joined us as Carrie Ackley soon after our founding. She married a high school sweetheart, Brady, and lives with him and his sons in Evergreen now – she’s our foothills anchor.

 

Kristi Brunel is from Wisconsin but met her soul mate, Kenny, on the ski slopes of Colorado, marrying into that legendary “old Golden” family. Kristi and I met through Leadership Golden, and I was honored that she wanted to begin her real estate career with us.  As an owner, along with Kenny and her father-in-law, of numerous rentals, she’s a resource to me and her clients as an expert in buying investment properties.

Leo Swoyer came to us as a new Realtor after a long career as a licensed appraiser specializing in mountain properties. His expertise in valuing properties and his knowledge of mountain properties has benefited us on many occasions.

 

Chuck Brown was an independent broker with Metro Brokers in Denver, but he lives on Lookout Mountain, so he was attracted to joining Golden Real Estate as a broker associate. He is our Denver specialist and continues to list many Denver homes and serve Denver buyers as well as here in Jeffco.

David Dlugasch was broker/owner of his own real estate company in Crested Butte, but chose to join Golden Real Estate when he moved to Arvada to be closer to his daughter’s family in the Village of Five Parks. He says that reading my newspaper columns was a factor is deciding to join us. Thanks for the compliment, David!

I met Susan Dixon at the Colorado Environment Film Festival. Her commitment to sustainability drew her to leave her previous brokerage and join Golden Real Estate. She lives in Arvada.

 

Andrew Lesko transferred to Golden Real Estate so he could specialize in Golden area condos and townhomes. We were so impressed by his research on this topic and his creation of www.GoldenTownhomes.com that it was a no-brainer to welcome him into our fold!

 

Norm Kowitz serves with Kristi Brunel on the board of directors of the Christian Action Guild, and I met him when he represented a buyer for one of my listings. He, too, was attracted by this newspaper column and before long he became a great copy editor for me. Thanks, Norm, for joining us!

 

These broker associates provide a depth and breadth of expertise, but they all share a commitment to our values of integrity, service and sustainability, and I couldn’t be prouder to be associated with them.

Next, I am thankful for you, our readers, who turn to us every week for advice, which we are happy to provide, whether or not you hire us for the sale and/or purchase of real estate.  Thank you for your confidence in us.

Next, I’m thankful for the National Association of Realtors and our local association, the Denver Metro Association of Realtors. Not all licensed agents choose to join NAR and DMAR, but they all benefit from these organizations’ work to protect home ownership and our industry. I’m proud to say that Golden Real Estate is a Realtor brokerage, and all our agents are Realtors.

I’m also thankful for our local MLS and its CEO, Kirby Slunaker, who has shepherded the organization to a level of service and effectiveness which I couldn’t have imagined just five years ago. Our MLS has a great website, and now we are about to merge with the northern Colorado MLS, called IRES, to create an even stronger and better MLS. I’m proud to serve on the Rules & Regulations Committee of REcolorado.

Regular readers know of my commitment not just to sustainability but also to the adoption of electric vehicles.  I am so thankful that EVs are going mainstream and that multiple countries (France, China, Norway and the UK, among others) are speeding the end of internal combustion-powered automobiles. I predicted this revolution a couple years ago, but this year’s developments in that regard surprised even me.

We should all be thankful for the various service organizations which contribute so much to society— Rotary, Lions, Sertoma, Optimists, Kiwanis, and others. Rotary, for example, is singularly responsible for the eradication of polio. The Lions Clubs, inspired in 1925 by Helen Keller, have worked on projects to prevent blindness, restore eyesight and improve eye care for millions of people worldwide. The Optimists are all about serving youth. Here in Golden, they have a “bicycle recycle” program that has provided free or inexpensive bicycles to those who couldn’t afford them. Sertoma (short for “Service to Mankind”) is devoted to serving those at risk of hearing loss.

Service clubs in America are in decline, although I’m pleased to report that both the Golden Rotary Club and Golden Lions Club are experiencing a surge in membership this year. (Rita and I are Rotarians, and I’m a Lion.) If voluntarism is in your heart, I urge you to check into one of these clubs in your community, all of which welcome you as their guest at one of their meetings.

I don’t have room to mention all of the organizations or people for whom I am thankful, but let me mention one more — our local chambers of commerce. Golden Real Estate is pleased to be a member of the West Chamber serving Jefferson County and the Golden Chamber of Commerce, on whose board of directors I serve. These organizations play an important role is promoting a healthy business environment in the communities they serve. Legislators benefit from their advice and feedback regarding bills affecting business. All businesses should consider joining their local chamber and participate in their events.

Lastly, on a personal note, Rita and I are eternally thankful to have connected with Body in Balance Wellness Center, where our health and fitness benefited from their “8 Weeks to Wellness” program — a real life changer!

News from our hurricane-ravaged states and from the Caribbean islands can be unsettling, even to those whose life and property weren’t affected by these events. How would life be for you if you lost electricity for several weeks, or even months?

Without electricity, there is no refrigeration, and you can’t even run a gas furnace to keep warm. If you live on well water, you couldn’t run the electric well pump, so without a manual pump (which are still available) you’d be without water. Forget the internet and charging your cell phone. Gas stations wouldn’t be able to pump gas, so you’d soon lose the use of your car or at, best, find long gas lines — unless you have an electric car powered by off-grid electricity.

Even before the devastating news from Puerto Rico, I’d been considering going off-grid in my Golden home, or at least buying a Tesla Powerwall battery pack as back-up to the electricity supplied by Xcel Energy. I have enough solar panels to power my home and my cars, but when the grid goes down, my solar panels are useless. With today’s solar power systems, you’re either on-grid or off-grid. I used to like to say that the grid is my battery. Now I’m not so confident of that.  My home sends power to Xcel during the day then receives if from Xcel at night.  As long as this  give-and-take arrangement (called “net metering”) works as designed, it makes no sense to own your own battery.   But what about when it doesn’t work?

A friend and mentor of mine, Steve Stevens, has a home powered by Xcel, but also keeps a fully-charged battery pack in his garage so when there’s a black-out he can throw a switch and run his home (and charge his cars) directly from the battery pack.  His solar photovoltaic (PV) system will continue charging the battery pack during daylight hours, which is capable of providing enough electricity to live normally during the night.

I used to think such an investment was silly, but so, it could be argued, is flood insurance — that is, until you have a flood. I’m not considering flood insurance, but I am seriously considering buying “electricity insurance” in the form of a battery back-up system for my home and possibly for my real estate office.

Even a one-day power outage could spoil food in the refrigerator and freezer. Perhaps you’ve had that experience. Such a system would help to mitigate that risk.

Maybe you read, as I did, that Tesla has suspended the production of its new Tesla Semi so it can concentrate on making Powerwall units for Puerto Rico and other areas devastated by hurricanes. Presumably, Tesla is also sending the solar panels necessary to charge those battery packs.

It’s also possible to get off the natural gas grid and heat your home with electricity.   If you’re skeptical, it’s probably because when you think of electric heat, electric baseboard or “resistance heating” comes to mind.

Resistance heating involves the use of electric coils which get hot when connected to electricity. You’ll find this same level of technology in the toaster sitting on your kitchen counter – an appliance invented in 1893.  Modern electric heating, on the other hand, is accomplished by way of a heat pump.  These devices use an electric compressor to extract heat from inside your house when it’s hot (we call that “air conditioning”) and extract heat from outdoors, even when it’s below freezing, to heat your home in the winter.

This kind of heat pump is called an “air source” heat pump because it extracts heat from the outdoor air. A more expensive but more efficient heat pump extracts heat from the earth, which is a constant 55 degrees once you reach six feet below the surface in our latitude.  It takes less electricity to extract heat from that 55-degree source than it does from the air, because the air can get much colder. Unfortunately, the cost of installing the vertical or horizontal wells required for a ground-source heat pump makes these systems much more expensive to install, though cheaper to operate.

Recently I wrote about “mini-splits,” which are air source heat pumps common throughout Europe and Asia but which are just beginning to make their appearance in America. They will ultimately make our gas forced air furnaces and A/C units obsolete. They haven’t been popular here because, without using ducts, you’d require one for each room. At right is a 12,000 BTU kit that I found online for only $645. There are systems currently available that include up to four interior wall units (at the top in the image) that run off a single compressor (bottom left in the image) for under $2,000. They both heat and cool, eliminating the need for a gas furnace plus separate A/C compressor and chiller unit.

Domestic hot water can also be heated electrically using a heat pump water heater. Home Depot sells a 50-gallon Rheem model (left) for $1,199 and claims “$4,000 in energy cost savings.” It’s important to put this model in unconditioned space — or in a room with outdoor air available. The reason is that the heat pump is transferring the heat from the room into the water, so it functions like an air conditioner for the room in which it is installed. If it’s in a small room, that room can get very cold as your water gets hot! If your current furnace room has “combustion air” ducts supplying outdoor air to your gas furnace and hot water heater, those same ducts can provide the needed outdoor air when you convert to heat pumps. Just be sure to keep the door to this room closed — and not have louvered doors.

If you can also do without gas for cooking — and there are some great electric cooktops available now — you can get rid of your gas meter (saving the monthly grid connection fee) and live only off the sun.