Here is some great info from my buddy Christian Higby with Old Republic Home Warranty:
SPRING MAINTENANCE TIPS:
Outside the House - Up High
Inspect the roof for damaged, loose or blistered shingles. Have damaged shingles replaced if they're on less than 20% of the roof. Reroof if damaged shingles cover more than 20% of the roof.
Examine flashing around chimneys, vents, and roof edges.
Remove debris from gutters and downspouts and patch any holes. Make sure the downspouts direct water at least five feet away from your foundation.
Examine fascia or soffit boards. Replace if they are soft or rotting because they may allow rain into your attic.
Trim branches and shrubs that are touching your home which can provide a pathway for bugs or excess moisture to enter.
Remove dead branches that may fall on your home. Snap!
Outside The House - Down Low
Clean up fallen limbs, branches and other debris around the home to discourage wood-eating insects. Termites = bad.
Clean out basement window wells.
Inspect/replace caulk on windows, doors, and other penetrations, such as dryer vents and cable wire holes. Inspect and repair caulking where two different materials meet, for example where wood siding joins the foundation's wall or at inside corners.
Touch up any exterior surfaces that need paint before they deteriorate further. Inspect bricks and concrete blocks for cracked mortar or loose joints.
Inspect grading around the house to be sure water drains away from the foundation on all sides.
Make sure that your lawn sprinkler heads do not spray the walls of the house. Water = bad.
Check your inside and outside foundation walls and piers for termite tubes and damaged wood.
Information courtesy of PATH. For more information and resources, go to www.pathnet.org
Please share this with your clients and friends. You could make someone's day.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Friday, May 16, 2008
Real Estate News
Check out these bits of real estate news for the Wasatch Front -
Forbes says Salt Lake is practically recession-proof:
The nation may be facing a number of economic challenges, but in cities like Salt Lake things are just fine, says a new article from Forbes magazine. Salt Lake City came in at No. 6 on Forbes’s “10 Recession-Proof Cities” list because the city has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country (even though the rate has seen a rise) and the state is still creating jobs. Forbes also factored in a report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors that projected that “Salt Lake City would be one of the few large cities in the country not to suffer a decline in gross metropolitan product from the mortgage crisis.”
To calculate the cities with the healthiest economies, Forbes analyzed key measures in the country’s 50 largest metros: unemployment and job growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year ending February 2008, the most recent home price data from the National Association of REALTORS®, and information on gross metropolitan product growth from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Decline in Utah housing sales slows to 11 percent
Home and condo sales in Utah may have been down nearly 11 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the previous quarter, but new statistics from the Utah Association of REALTORS® indicate the state may begin to see some stabilization in its home sales.
The statewide 10.86 percent quarter-to-quarter drop in home sales is the lowest decrease since the second quarter of last year — before stricter lending standards made it more difficult for buyers to obtain home loans. After the credit crunch, home sales in Utah dropped by nearly 25 percent in the third quarter while fourth quarter 2007 figures showed a quarterly sales decrease of about 33 percent.
Home and condo prices in Utah averaged $272,503 in the first quarter of 2008, down about 2.5 percent from the fourth quarter. Without Park City figures, which tend to inflate the numbers, the average price was $243,409, about flat from the previous quarter.
Although prices were up in a number of areas around the state, some of the best news came out of Washington County where home and condo prices saw respectable quarterly increases of about 4 and 5 percent after falling for much of 2007.
Forbes says Salt Lake is practically recession-proof:
The nation may be facing a number of economic challenges, but in cities like Salt Lake things are just fine, says a new article from Forbes magazine. Salt Lake City came in at No. 6 on Forbes’s “10 Recession-Proof Cities” list because the city has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the country (even though the rate has seen a rise) and the state is still creating jobs. Forbes also factored in a report from the U.S. Conference of Mayors that projected that “Salt Lake City would be one of the few large cities in the country not to suffer a decline in gross metropolitan product from the mortgage crisis.”
To calculate the cities with the healthiest economies, Forbes analyzed key measures in the country’s 50 largest metros: unemployment and job growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for the year ending February 2008, the most recent home price data from the National Association of REALTORS®, and information on gross metropolitan product growth from the U.S. Conference of Mayors.
Decline in Utah housing sales slows to 11 percent
Home and condo sales in Utah may have been down nearly 11 percent in the first quarter of 2008 compared to the previous quarter, but new statistics from the Utah Association of REALTORS® indicate the state may begin to see some stabilization in its home sales.
The statewide 10.86 percent quarter-to-quarter drop in home sales is the lowest decrease since the second quarter of last year — before stricter lending standards made it more difficult for buyers to obtain home loans. After the credit crunch, home sales in Utah dropped by nearly 25 percent in the third quarter while fourth quarter 2007 figures showed a quarterly sales decrease of about 33 percent.
Home and condo prices in Utah averaged $272,503 in the first quarter of 2008, down about 2.5 percent from the fourth quarter. Without Park City figures, which tend to inflate the numbers, the average price was $243,409, about flat from the previous quarter.
Although prices were up in a number of areas around the state, some of the best news came out of Washington County where home and condo prices saw respectable quarterly increases of about 4 and 5 percent after falling for much of 2007.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
