Jun 24 2009 1:57PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

Austin's new energy audits, which I wrote about earlier this month, are finding that 86 percent of homes there don't meet the "acceptable" levels of air leakage.

Homes can only leak 10 percent of their air through the ductwork to meet Austin's requirements for energy efficiency.

KTBC, the local Fox station there, has more:

Jun 24 2009 10:36AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

I had never heard of this before, but apparently there is some evidence that deep drilling in bedrock for large geothermal projects can cause earthquakes. It happened in Basel, Switzerland, in 2006 and residents in Northern California are protesting a plan to use a similar method there in the near future.

The New York Times has the full story:

Power companies have long produced limited amounts of geothermal energy by tapping shallow steam beds, often beneath geysers or vents called fumaroles. Even those projects can induce earthquakes, although most are small. But for geotherm...Read More

Jun 24 2009 8:30AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

We're now accepting applications for our Professional Remodeler Remodeler of the Year. The Remodeler of the Year will be featured in the December issue of the magazine.

For more information or to download an entry form, go to www.proremodeler.com/roy.

Jun 23 2009 2:25PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

The housing crash has people rethinking the attractiveness of home ownership, according to a new study out today from the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. 

The idea that many in the industry have been selling for years is that homeownership is the best way to build long-term wealth. Well, almost half of Americans aren't buying it anymore, according to the survey, with 49 percent of respondents agreeing with that owning a home "is no longer a realistic strategy for building wealth."

This confirms what I've been hearing anecdotally from remodelers and real estate agents, and frankly just talking to friends and other acquaintances. People are feeling burned by home ownership. Other studies have shown similar trends....Read More

Jun 18 2009 3:05PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

A lot of remodelers have been very generous with their health insurance coverage over the last few years, although rising prices combined with the housing crash has prompted many to cut back. It will get even tougher next year to manage healthcare costs for most companies.

A new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers says healthcare costs will increase by 9 percent next year despite the contracting economy. While that is less than in previous years, it still easily outpaces inflation.

Some highlights of the report: (You can download a full version from this page.)

• One reason behind the increases is that many employees are trying to take advantage of healthcare before they

...Read More

Jun 17 2009 10:12AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

Anyone who lives in a major metro area has seen it this decade, and now the numbers confirm it: the explosive growth in most places came from the outlying counties, the so-called "exurbs," as homeowners had to go further and further away from the central city to find affordable homes.

From 2000 to 2007, outlying counties in metro areas grew 13 percent, while central counties (those that contain "all or a substantial portion" of an urban area) grew by 8 percent. The rest of the country grew by only 2 percent over that time.

The outlying areas also saw the majority of their growth from net migration (people moving there), as opposed to the core urban areas where the majority was from "natural increase" (b...Read More

Jun 16 2009 2:01PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

Just a heads-up. If you haven't sent in your entry for the Best of the Best Design Awards, you've still got time. We've extended the deadline to July 31.

Design awards are always a great way to market your company.

You can see last year's winners, along with entry forms and more information on this year's competition  here.

Jun 15 2009 8:28AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

There are mistakes and there are colossal screw-ups. 

Last week, a Marietta, Ga., company made the second. The company, Southern Environmental Services, demolished the wrong house.

Why? The company claims they weren't given an address, only GPS coordinates, which led them to this house, which fit the description they were given. While the home was unoccupied, it was furnished and several family heirlooms were lost in the demolition, the owners say.

I've written about many and heard even more stories of construction screw-ups, but this is easily the worst I've ever seen....Read More

Jun 9 2009 10:22AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

Robert Shiller, co-creator of the Case-Shiller price index, was on Bloomberg this morning talking about why he thinks home prices will continue to fall. Shiller is predicting declines into 2011, and potentially even longer before any increase occurs in prices. He notes that after the last price boom ended with the early 90s recession, prices didn't start going up again until 1997. (Shiller wrote more about this Sunday in the New York Times.)

...Read More

Jun 8 2009 1:49PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (2) |

By Jonathan Sweet

I've got your new marketing campaign right here:
Lonely? Looking for love? Why not remodel?

Who knew? Apparently the way to a woman's heart is through renovations, according to the Kilz Brand Roller Report, an annual home decor study by the paint and primer company.

That's right, Kilz reports that 85 percent of women would prefer a $5,000 room remodel over a pair of diamond earrings. And both men and women make key dating decisions based on home decor, according to the survey of more than 1,000 people in the U.S. and Canada.

Some key findings:

• 63 percent of women consider home decor a key indicator of a man's personality and maturity. 39 percent are turned of

...Read More

Jun 3 2009 3:06PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

The law requiring green audits in Austin, Texas, takes effect this week. This can only be good news for remodelers, especially those that offer energy efficiency audits.

The law, passed last year, requires anyone who wants to sell a home that 10 years old or older to get the audit before the sale can occur. The idea is that it will encourage buyers to look at the efficiency of a home before making a purchase. The law doesn't require homeowners to make improvements, but let's face it, many are going to.

According to this local television report, it's created more than 100 jobs for home auditors. As auditor David Malone tells the reporter it's "Austin's version of the stimulus package."

...Read More

Jun 1 2009 10:27AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

It may not be the end of the Yellow Pages, but the traditional marketing standby took a shot across the bow with the announcement Friday that publisher R.H. Donnelley was filing for bankruptcy. That follows the bankruptcy of one of its competitors earlier this year.

No big surprise. This isn't exactly a growth industry we're talking about here. I can't remember the last time I looked something up in the Yellow Pages. The only reason I have it is because somebody keeps throwing it on my front steps every year.

And certainly most of you have realized that as well. Once one of the staples of the remodeling business, most companies have either abandoned the directories or at...Read More

May 29 2009 9:14AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

Let's call this downer Friday, apparently.

First, I rip on the new program for the $8,000 tax credit from HUD. Now I'm questioning whether the stimulus package is helping at all. Bad blogger ... bad blogger.

In all fairness, this was the post I was planning on writing today when the news came in about the tax credit.

The government will certainly tell you the stimulus package is helping. You can see President Obama talk about it earlier this week here. (Although ABC News is up with a ...Read More

May 29 2009 8:49AM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

I have to say it again: stupid, stupid, stupid.

You can read the official release here, but basically HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan made it official today at the NAHB Spring Board meetings. First-time homebuyers can now essentially borrow against their $8,000 tax credit to use it as the downpayment on a new home. The only good thing? It can't be used as the sole downpayment.

I'm still worried about how this is going to be used to get people into homes they can't afford, especially when they're only required to come up with a 3.5 percent downpayment.
 
...Read More

May 28 2009 3:06PM | Permalink | Email this | Comments (0) |

By Jonathan Sweet

Today's new home sales numbers were basically flat, but in this climate that's practically cause for celebration. As I like to say, flat's the new up. Along with yesterday's slight rise in existing home sales, it's a little bit of good news.

The numbers were still way down from a year ago, but despite that some economists are saying we could be near that housing stabilization. Reed Construction Data Chief Economist Jim Haughey (RCD is also owned by our corporate parent, Reed Business Information) says ...Read More