TheState.com: Your Home

Built to last?

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

How long will your roof last? When will your kitchen appliances need to be replaced? Will your furnace make it through another heating season?

Knowing the life expectancy of your home’s doors and floors can help you determine how to deal with the inevitable.

A new “Life Expectancy of Home Components” study outlines the longevity of housing components. It was developed by the National Association of Home Builders together with Bank of America Home Equity.

What follows are some of the report’s findings and tips for prolonging all your home’s parts:

APPLIANCES

What you get for $400,000

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

A new occasional feature will show you what you can get for your money in areas throughout the Midlands. This week, we take a look at what roughly $400,000 will buy in Forest Acres and Chapin.

FOREST ACRES (29206)

Address: 125 Kings Mill Road

Rooms: 3 bedrooms, 4 baths

Square footage: 3,028

The Green Home

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

Taking a long-term approach to reducing your environmental impact is the key to greening your lifestyle successfully.

Richard Daly and Todd Singer advise home builders, real estate agents and homeowners on green construction, renovation and design in their Phoenix design-build firm, REDesign-Green (www.redesign-green.com).

In their experience, homeowners know that sustainability is good for their families and the environment, but they often are discouraged by previous false starts.

“People want to do the right thing,” Daly said, “but making changes haphazardly will cause frustration, guilt or — worse — apathy.”

Daly and Singer recommend that people approach sustainability incrementally by planning and then adopting new habits. They offer these tips for going — and staying — green at home:

Wachovia quits offering risky Pick-A-Payment mortgage loan

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

Wachovia customers will no longer be able to pick their own mortgage payments.

The consumer bank said last week it will quit offering a mortgage payment option that allows borrowers to pay less each month than the bank charges in interest.

The choice to pay less was one of the options of Wachovia’s controversial Pick-A-Payment mortgages, which offer customers four different payment options each month. Wachovia said it will no longer offer the less-than-full interest payment option on all new home loans.

Wachovia also said it is waiving all prepayment fees associated with its Pick-A-Payment mortgages.

Critics have said paying less than the amount of interest charged can lead to negative amortization. That means the borrower owes more than the value of their home, increasing the chance of foreclosure.

Agent could be sued if buyers were misled

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

I would like your advice on what I can do about a property that my sister, brother-in-law and I own. We purchased a beach house in North Myrtle Beach last September from a developer represented by an agent. We informed the agent we wanted an investment we could sell for a profit. The problem is the property was misrepresented to us in that the agent told us all the units in this development were reserved with deposits. This turned out to be untrue.

We are now stuck with trying to sell this property for $20,000 less than we paid for it. This purchase started in July 2005 when we reserved the unit. We are considering suing the agent for purposely misleading us so she could collect her commission. This is a very brief overview of our situation; I can go into much greater detail. We are at the point where we will consider any solution and your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Real estate licensing laws are very clear about statements made by real estate agents to housing consumers. Misrepresentation of the physical condition of the property about facts that the agent is aware is an unlawful practice. Similarly, misrepresentation to induce a party to enter into a real estate transaction is also prohibited. Based on your brief letter and assuming that you have documentation supporting your case, you should consult an attorney.

Thomas Musil, McClatchy-Tribune News Service

Workshops planned on foreclosure

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

Behind on your mortgage? Some upcoming workshops could help you learn how to prevent foreclosure.

The Homeownership Resource Center, a division of Family Services Inc. based in Charleston, will hold mortgage foreclosure counseling workshops to assist homeowners having trouble paying their mortgage:

July 10 and 24 — 6 p.m. at the Cecil Tillis Center, 2111 Simpkins Lane, Columbia.

July 12 and 26 — 10 a.m. at NID Housing Counseling Agency, 1815 Gervais St., Suite L, Columbia.

Information and registration: 1-888-320-0350, ForeclosureHelpforSC.org

Smell lingers despite fixing sewage leak

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

I had a leak in a sewer line in a crawl space under my house. That leak has been repaired and I thought I cleaned up thoroughly, but whenever I turn on my air system, we can smell sewage. How can I get rid of the smell?

Go back to the crawl space and make sure that you have cleaned all visible surface residue left by the leak. Dig down about a foot or so in the area where the sewage pooled.

Then, thoroughly soak the entire area with pure bleach to kill bacteria and the smell it leaves. Take proper precautions when using bleach in a closed space. Cover the bleached area with a 60-pound bag or two of powdered lime. Check for damaged ducts in your air system, and consider a professional cleaning of the ducts.

James and Morris Carey, The Associated Press

• Marmoleum a ‘green’ flooring alternative

Deciding the value of your future home

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

When you’ve decided on a house, it’s time to make an offer.

That’s both an art and a science that involves balancing the home’s value against your emotions about the place.

Before you make an offer, you need to get a picture of what the house is worth. If you’re working with an agent, he or she can help you with this step, but what you’re willing to pay is up to you.

Common practice used to dictate looking at what comparable houses in the neighborhood have sold for in the last two or three years, but that’s changed as housing values have dropped, said Susan O’Neal, an Ohio Realtor . Now she looks at comparable houses for sale in the area and compares the amenities to determine whether the house is really worth the price being asked.

As a buyer, you’ll probably have a feel for that if you’ve looked at a number of houses, O’Neal said.

Richland County

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

The property transfers listed below are from the descriptions on legal documents on file in the Richland County courthouse.

29016

1601 Fulmer Road, Blythewood, from Gary Donald Suber Jr. to Kory M. Kaiser, $144,480

310 Loon Court, Blythewood, from VIP Developers Inc. to Kevin L. Kendrick, $153,500

29201

Make your home appealing with artwork

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

Selling your home in today’s market means making it picture perfect. One way to do that is making the most of the artwork you have. Here’s what a few designers had to say:

Groupings are great ways to use lots of smaller photos or pictures to creatively fill a space. But the items shouldn’t be placed haphazardly. Establish some sort of grid so all the pieces form a square on the outside, or so there’s a central line that runs vertical or horizontal. Charlotte interior designer Teal Michel, a professional member of the American Society of Interior Designers, recommends having all the items in a group share a subject matter. “You don’t want to have a landscape of Alaska, a picture of your vacation in Nantucket and then a photo of your scout troop,” she says. Instead, hang a grouping of sports photos, or color travel photos; and keep the colors of the frames the same. For longer walls, lay out the grouping in a horizontal format; go vertical on short walls.

Hang things at a comfortable eye-line. People often hang art too high or too low, depending on their height. Shoot for about 5 feet from the floor. “You want to hang things or position things at a comfortable eye-line, ... unless it’s a mirror you’ll be using on a day-to-day basis,” says J’aime Kent, a Charlotte interior designer and professor of the Art Institute of Charlotte.

Lay out the artwork on the floor first. With groupings, it helps you fine-tune the spacing, Michel says.

Mirrors are a great way to make a space look bigger and bring more light into a room. They’re especially great in entryways, designers say, because people can quickly check their appearance before walking out the door.

Richland’s Top 3

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

The highest-priced property transfers on file:

$605,000, 401 North Woodlake Drive, Columbia 29229, from Keith A. and Stephanie C. Guest to Ronald B. and Vickie M. Cox

$520,000, 141 Alexander Circle, Columbia 29206, from Rachael K. Harper to Eleanor M. and Timothy A. Vuono

$375,000, 3741 Greenleaf Road, Columbia 29206, from Patsy and Reid H. Montgomery Jr. to Michael W. and Marjorie B. Tye

LEXINGTON’S TOP 3

Repairing a buckled drive

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:41 EDT

If you have a concrete patio or walk that contains one or more curling or bowed wooden dividers, pay close attention to this easy repair.

We have been watching the ends of our divider boards curl for years. One day we realized that the buckled wood was a trip hazard and someone might be hurt. How do we make the repair: Glue, bolts, what?

Suddenly it occurred to us that if we could force the wood back into place we could then wedge in a shim shingle and it just might hold. So, here is what we did:

• First we drove a wood chisel between concrete and the bowed end of the divider. This created a pressure point between the concrete and the divider.

• We were then able to use a wooden mallet to drive the top of the curved end of the wooden divider flush with the top of the concrete. We had to gently tap the chisel from time to time to ensure the continued pressure needed to prevent the divider from popping up.

Is Columiba a good bet for investors?

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:53 EDT

The television shows make it look easy: Find a house, flip it, make thousands.

Despite a downturn in the real estate market, there is still money to be made, investors say. But in Columbia, it will take patience.

“What you’re seeing in the marketplace right now (is) folks that are investing are looking at long-term gains instead of the quick buck,” said Nick Kremydas, chief executive of the S.C. Realtors trade group.

Columbia is like the money market account of real estate investing — low-risk, low-reward, said Mark Sander, an investor from Phoenix.

He has bought six houses here in the past three years. He picked Columbia for its warm climate, large university and military installation. He also liked its proximity to the ocean and that it was out of the path of hurricanes. The runner-up town was Austin, Texas, he said.

Getaways

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:43 EDT

Looking for a second home — or just dreaming about one? Find a getaway right here in South Carolina. Homes abound along the coast, in the mountains and along the state’s “inland coasts.”

Available: Marshfront home

Location: 725 Bounty Square Drive, Charleston

Price: $1.499 million

Square footage: 5,599

Home buying practices adjust to high gas prices

Sat, 28 Jun 2008 21:53 EDT

In his hunt for a new home, Demetrius Stroud crunched the numbers to find out that, with gas prices climbing, moving near an Amtrak station was the best thing for his wallet.

Stroud was looking in Elk Grove., Calif. — about 85 miles away from his job in the San Francisco Bay Area — because homes there are more affordable. But with gas at $4.50 and a car that gets about 22 miles per gallon, Stroud would be pumping $560 a month into his tank.

So instead he made an offer on a home near the train station in Davis, which will shave $160 off his commuting costs.

“I wouldn’t even be able to consider doing it without that Amtrak possibility,” said Stroud, 45, who also telecommutes one day a week to his job in software quality assurance.

Stroud’s choice represents a fundamental shift in the way more Americans are approaching home buying in this era of ballooning gas prices. Real estate agents, transportation officials and industry surveys indicate that home buyers are placing more importance on cutting their gas bills and commute times than they have since the oil shocks of the 1970s.

Foreclosure workshop planned for July 19

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:20 EDT

A foreclosure prevention workshop is set for 10 a.m. to noon July 19 at Benedict College Business Development Center, 2601 Read St., Columbia.

The workshop is for homeowners at risk for foreclosure or who are delinquent on mortgage payments and is being hosted by the Benedict-Allen Community Development Corp.

Topics include:

• How the foreclosure process works and what you need to know to protect your investment.

• Tools to save your home from foreclosure.

Summer safety in renovations

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:20 EDT

As summer temperatures begin to sizzle, home improvement tasks become particularly challenging. Take these precautions when working in hot weather to protect your health and get better results.

KEEP YOUR COOL

Be careful not to overdo it when working in a hot environment. It could lead to heat-related illness or death. Drink plenty of water to help your body adjust, and don’t push yourself beyond your limits.

PAINT A MASTERPIECE

Your painting project can turn into a disaster if air temperatures are too hot or humid. Most exterior paint is formulated to perform best when applied at temperatures between 50 and 80 degrees F.

Know what you’re getting yourself in to

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:20 EDT

When you find a house you like, it’s tempting to want to jump right on it. But be sure to check out the neighborhood and know what you’re investing in, experts advise.

By law in many states, the seller must provide a residential property disclosure form, which points out known defects, and a lead-based paint disclosure form. Their absence should be a red flag, said Rachel Torchia, president of Gateway Title Agency in Brecksville, Ohio. It signals that the seller — probably someone who’s selling the house without a real estate agent’s involvement — doesn’t know what he or she is doing.

Be sure to check out the vicinity, as well, said Susan O’Neal, an Akron real estate agent. Look for anything that might be noisy or bothersome, such as a highway, train tracks or an airport landing pattern, she said. If the house is on a busy street, ask yourself whether you’ll mind the noise, traffic and potential danger to children.

Take a drive to discover what’s on all sides of the property you’re considering. O’Neal recalled with a laugh how she bought a house with a beautiful backyard some years ago, “and when all the leaves fell off the trees, I realized there was an apartment building that was, like, eight stories high behind me.”

Remember that you’re not just choosing a home; you’re choosing a neighborhood. If possible, spend an hour or two there getting a feel for the area.

GOOD ADVICE: Hundreds of heads give advice for moving gifts

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:20 EDT

Know someone who is moving? Here’s some advice on getting them a gift, from “How to Survive a Move” (Hundreds of Heads, $13.95), straight from people who’ve done it:

“Little things like dish towels and plates and cups either get lost in the shuffle or broken in the move. If you are going to buy someone a moving present I’d say keep it to something simple that they use every day and may be scrambling to find right after moving into the new place. We always use dish towels to pack glassware in the boxes so that the stuff doesn’t break, but then when you need a towel you don’t have one.”

— Mike Bell, Cranberry Township, Pa., 5 moves

“If you want to be helpful, give them cash. My father picked up the cost of the moving truck for us once, and that was a big help. We were already strapped for cash because we had to come up with the security deposit and the first month’s rent for our apartment.”

— Todd Charlesworth, Boston, Mass., 2 moves

Shade it to cool it

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:20 EDT

Keeping the heat at bay in a home on a hot summer day is no easy task. But shade control can help reduce the heat gain in a home and cut down on the electric bill. The U.S. Department of Energy offers this list of shading options:

Awnings: Block direct sunlight. Usually made of fabric or metal, awnings attach above the window and extend down and out. A properly installed awning can reduce heat gain up to 65 percent on southern windows and 77 percent on eastern windows. A gap between the top of the awning and the side of a house helps vent accumulated heat from under a solid-surface awning.

Louvers: Adjustable slats that control the level of sunlight entering a home. Depending on the design, louvers can be vertical or horizontal and adjusted from the inside or outside.

Shutters: Movable wooden or metal coverings that, when closed, keep sunlight out. Shutters are either solid or slatted with fixed or adjustable slats.

Rolling shutters: Employ a series of horizontal slats that run down along a track. They use a fabric and most can be controlled from the inside.