Archive for March, 2008

Factory-built homes are more "green" than most site-built homes.

Friday, March 21st, 2008

With the housing market taking a down-turn, more and more home owners are turning to modular house building. And because these modular homes are built in a factory, there’s less waste of wood and other materials, making for a much “greener” home in the end.

According to this article, modular homes are one of the fastest growing sectors of the residential community:

Homebuilders are learning that there is a very ‘green’ side to modular homes. Factory-built homes are more “green” than most site-built homes. Steven Winter, of Steven Winter Associates, is chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED for Homes program which, rates homes for green certification on a number of criteria. Says Winter, “Because they’re built in a factory and much of the lumber is pre-cut, there is less scrap and waste; the cut-off pieces are often ground up and recycled; the central location of a factory means no wasted transportation to get workers to an isolated job site, so there’s a savings in fuel and energy. So, in a whole array of material savings attributes, time saving attributes, energy savings attributes, systems built homes go a long way toward achieving green objectives.”

The National Association of Home Builders credits modular homes as being one of the fastest-growing segments of the residential construction industry, growing by 48% from 1992 – 2002. In 2004, a reported 42,700 modular homes were built in the United States, and in the northeast, modulars account for 1 out of every 10 homes built.

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Despite slow economy, consumers continue with home improvements

Thursday, March 13th, 2008

It is logical to assume that when the house market is extremely shaky, then home improvement investments will take a sharp dive as a result. But the Pantagraph is reporting that participation in home improvement shows has nearly doubled over the last few years. Also the business of heating, ventilation and air conditioning hasn’t declined at all. As one of the people quoted in the piece said, ““HVAC is recession-proof.”

The mood seemed to be in favor of maximizing what you already own in a market when home sales are soft nationwide, vendors noted. People were looking for ways to cut their utility bills and add new amenities, such as sunrooms.

“People are definitely investing in their homes and fixing up what they have,” said Kevin Gattung, special promotions manager for Peoria Siding and Window.

He said attendance has doubled at the shows he has attended in Illinois so far this year.

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Remodeling in your house: How much will it improve your appraisal?

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Whenever someone decides to do some remodeling in his or her house, the thing always at the back of the mind is how much the remodeling will improve an appraisal. If I remodel my kitchen, will this add another $10,000 to my house’s worth? What about finishing my basement?

The Washington Post has an excellent article that talks about the problems that appraisers face with these questions. It isn’t an exact science:

If there are foreclosures nearby, or home builders offering deep discounts, or desperate sellers setting their asking prices 10 percent lower than the most recent closed sale, your appraised value will be lower. One problem is that some neighborhoods haven’t had many sales over the past six months or so. When that happens, appraisers have to look for something similar in other neighborhoods. For example, Loizou said, if the neighborhood is near Metro, he might search for comparable homes that sold recently near a different Metro station.

If your appraisal comes in surprisingly low, verify that the comparables the appraiser used are truly comparable to your home. “If you have other comparables, we can have the appraiser look at it,” Eul said.

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Setting a deadline for garage demolition

Sunday, March 2nd, 2008

It’s not only important to set deadlines for contractors to get work done, it’s just as pertinent sometimes to charge a penalty if the deadline isn’t met. The city in this article had the right idea to set a 90-day deadline in which a $500 fee is extracted for every day that goes by after the deadline that the contractor doesn’t finish:

Salzmann said the fine provision has been included to emphasize the importance of getting the work completed on time.

“It is there to make sure that contractors know we need to have this done quickly, and once work is begun, we expect it to be done in a timely manner,” Salzmann said.

The 90-day completion date will be set once the contract is awarded, Salzmann said. Demolition proposals must be submitted by 2 p.m. March 12, when they will be opened at City Hall. Prospective contractors must also pay a $100 fee.

Sealed proposals are now being accepted by engineering consultant John Stinemire in his office at 15 Railroad Ave., Salzmann said.

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