Monthly Archives: February 2013

Watch out for that light at the end of the tunnel | Cross River Real Estate

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Perhaps the U.S. and global economies are turning the long-expected corner, but that turn is still in forecasts, not current data.

The gold market suddenly believes the greatest economic danger is past, crashing 30 bucks today. Yet, the NFIB survey of small business is stumbling along in recession.

The 10-year T-note continued to creep its way upward, at 2.03 percent this week, the highest in 10 months. Hardly a rocket ride, but disquieting.

Two other explanations for market movements: (1) what we have here is just another false-recovery party or (2) — queasiest of all — the Fed is losing its ability to hold down long-term rates.

via inman.com

The housing problem Minneapolis would rather forget | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Minneapolis, Minn., has proven to be a hard market to predict.

During the heart of the Great Recession, the housing market there was hard-hit yet employment remained stable. Then when the housing market in other metros started to improve post-recession, Minneapolis home prices redeflated, and, as a result, the city lags the recovery starting to happen elsewhere.

Minneapolis is often perceived as a white-collar town, as five Fortune 500 corporations plus a host of medical device companies and healthcare firms maintain their headquarters there. United Healthcare, which is the largest healthcare insurance company in the U.S., is based in Minneapolis and it kept hiring and expanding throughout the recession, according to Herb Tousley, director of the Shenehon Center for Real Estate at the University of St. Thomas.

“Our unemployment hangs 1.5 percent to 2 percent below the national average,” Tousley said. “At the end of 2012 our unemployment was at 5.8 percent, and we are starting to see some good job creation numbers.”

via inman.com

Are your vapor barriers helping or hurting? | Katonah NY Real Estate

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Since my column on vapor barriers first appeared, I’ve gotten more reader questions on this topic than on any other that I can remember. I’ve had the opportunity to talk with several experts in the field as well, and here are some questions and answers that might help clear up a few more issues about this important subject:

Q: I just purchased a house a few months ago and installed R-19 batt insulation in the attic (with paper facing up). I realized afterwards this was not ideal, but to save cost I left it as is. The house is shaded by lots of trees and is still very cold so I’d like to add a second layer of insulation to the attic, perhaps another unfaced R-19. I read in your comments that the insulation paper has to face down when installing batt insulation.

What should I do with the existing insulation? To allow the air to flow, can I just make incisions on the paper on the first batt, or can I remove the paper from the first batt? Or do I have to reverse the first batt such that the paper is facing the inside of the house?

Can I use unfaced R-19 as a second layer of insulation, or are there better choices? I am trying to save cost. –Diana N.

via inman.com