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Fix for a sinking fireplace hearth | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Q: I live in a Craftsman cottage in Davis, Calif. Like many Craftsman homes, it has a fireplace in the living room with a handsome mantel, a tile surround around the firebox, and a tiled hearth. All appear to be original. My problem: The hearth is sinking.

Currently the hearth sits about 1/2 inch below the hardwood floor. I’ve been under the house to take a look from that angle. The tile appears to be laid on a cement slab, which is supported by 4-by-4-inch posts resting on a couple of concrete piers. I’m not quite sure how to get the hearth back to level with the hardwood floor. I don’t want to break any of the tiles.

What is the best way to elevate the slab to be level with the floor and have the least chance of cracking any of the tiles?

A: We think you may be able to gently ease the hearth back into place using house jacks and two 5-foot lengths of 2-by-12 framing lumber. Then you’ll need to pour new concrete footings and add new posts.

We caution you that this is not a job for the casual do-it-yourselfer. It requires B or B-plus carpenter skills. Also, this type of structural work often requires a building permit and inspections so make sure to check with the city before you get started.

Your first job is to lift the hearth back into place.

House jacks are large screw-type jacks used by house movers to raise houses in order to place large beams under a house for transport via truck and trailer. You’ll need to rent two or three of these. Place one of the 2-by-12s on the ground near the existing piers. The wood base will prevent the jacks from sinking into the ground when lifting the slab.

Next, place one jack at each end of the board and use the jacks to snug the second 2-by-12 against the concrete substrate of the hearth. Make sure the jacks and the 2-by-12s overlap the slab. The upper 2-by-12 will distribute the load evenly across the substrate, lessening the chance of cracked tiles.

Gently turn the screws on the jacks about a quarter turn at a time, alternating jacks in the same order to lift the slab evenly. If the lift is uneven, a third jack should be used to ensure the slab rises evenly. If a third jack is needed, make sure to support it top and bottom with wooden blocks. (A second pair of 2-by-12s isn’t necessary.)

This is a delicate, two-person job — one turning the jacks, the other in the living room monitoring the progress of the lift. If all goes well the substrate will move into level with the floor.

Once the substrate is in place and supported by the jacks, remove the old posts and piers and replace them with new ones. Use the old excavations, but widen and deepen them so they measure 12 by 12 inches square and 12 inches deep. Pour fresh concrete to fill the holes and set new precast piers in the wet concrete, making sure to level the piers side to side and front to back. Let the concrete dry for a couple of days.

Then place a 4-by-4 beam against the slab and support it at each end with 4-by-4 pressure-treated posts nailed to the wooden blocks on the top of each pier with four 16d nails. The finished product will look like an upside-down “U.” Make sure this structure fits tight to the slab by using shims between the slab and the beam.

An alternative to precast piers is to imbed metal anchors into the concrete to accept pressure-treated posts. Pressure-treated material is required for this application because the wood is too close to the ground and is more susceptible to termite or carpenter ant infestation.

Let the new concrete cure for a week. Remove the jacks and the hearth should be level once again for a long time.

A final word: No matter how careful you are, there’s no guarantee that you won’t crack a tile or two, and it’s possible that you’ll end up searching the salvage yards for pieces that match your fine old hearth. Good luck.

via inman.com

Q3 home prices show strongest growth since 2006 | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Home prices and home sales both showed strong annual growth during the third quarter, according to the latest report by the National Association of Realtors.

The national median existing single-family home price jumped 7.6 percent from a year ago, to $186,100 — the strongest year-over-year increase for any quarter since first-quarter 2006, when prices were up 9.4 percent from the previous year.

Sales of existing homes rose 10.3 percent during the third quarter, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.68 million, up from 4.25 million a year ago.

Median prices posted annual gains in 120 of 149 metros tracked, up from 110 metros showing gains in the second quarter of 2012 and 39 metros with price appreciation during the third quarter of 2011.

Inventory of existing homes for sale was down 20 percent from a year ago, to 2.32 million. The combination of rising prices and tight inventory on a quarterly basis indicate that the housing recovery is settling in, said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist, in a statement.

“We expect fairly normal appreciation patterns in 2013, but there is a risk of price acceleration if builders are unable to meet the needs of our growing population and household formation,” Yun said.

While NAR attributed some of the price gain to a reduction in the percentage of distressed home sales — only 23 percent of existing homes sold in second-quarter 2012, down 30 percent from a year previous — the trade group stated that “higher prices significantly reflect a market recovery.”

Housing affordability numbers also fared well for the housing market. With a third-quarter national median family income of $61,700, NAR calculated that with a 5 percent down payment, a household would need only $40,900 to afford a home at the third-quarter national median price, assuming a 4 percent mortgage interest rate and 25 percent of gross income devoted to mortgage principal and interest. That home affordability income threshold drops as the down payment percentage rises.

The proportion of first-time buyers didn’t change in the third quarter from last year, but held steady at 32 percent, nearly twice the 17 percent share of investors who purchased homes in the quarter.

The share of all-cash buyers was down on a yearly basis in the third quarter to 27 percent from 29 percent in third quarter 2011.

“The modest decline in first-time buyers and investors shows the impact of limited inventory in the lower price ranges from a shrinking share of distressed homes, which are popular with both groups,” Yun said.

Existing-home sales, third quarter 2012

Seasonally adjusted annual rate4.68 million
% change from third quarter 2011+10.3%
% change from second quarter 2012+3.2%
National median price$186,100
% change from third quarter 2012+7.6%
Share of all-cash buyers27%
Share of investor buyers17%
Share of first-time buyers32%
Share of distressed sales23%

Source: National Association of Realtors

Nearly all U.S. regions saw existing-home sales and prices swell in the third quarter from a year ago — except the Northeast, which saw home prices dip slightly — with the Midwest leading the way with a 17.8 percent year-over-year increase in existing-home sales. The median price in the Midwest also rose in the third quarter from a year ago, up 4.2 percent to $151,100.

The annual pace of sales grew in the South 11.7 percent in the third quarter with median existing-home prices rising 5.7 percent to $165,400.

In the Northeast, sales jumped 9.8 percent on an annual basis, with median prices slipping 0.3 percent to $246,900.

Fighting tight inventory, the West saw the lowest percentage jump of existing-home sales in the third quarter with a 2.1 percent bump from a year ago. The short inventory also translated into a median home price leap of 20.2 percent to $247,400 from a year ago.

via inman.com

3 Reasons Your Social Strategy is Failing (And What to Do Instead) | South Salem Real Estate

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“Social tactics are not meaningful sales drivers”, according to Forrester’s latest research report.

They analyzed primary sales drivers for eCommerce, and concluded that less than 1% of buyers were from social visitors.

There’s a few possible explanations for this.

The first (and most important) is that social aids the buying process indirectly, and is difficult to track — which leads companies (and research firms) to under-appreciate and under-invest.

The second, is that most corporate social media strategies… simply aren’t that good. And their results are mediocre because they’re too tactical, and too focused on micro-decisions.

Here are 3 reasons why your social strategy is failing, and what to do instead.

Fix

So every single status update should bear all the hallmarks of good content.

Research and dig into your prospect’s psychology, use copywriting to intrigue and address their pain points, and monitor your analytics to do more of what people like, and less of what they don’t.

Every status update should be like it’s own advertisement:

  • Objective: At the end of the day, you need engagement or click-throughs. But emphasis one at a time, not both. Because if you want to maximize results, then you typically have to make a choice that will hurt the other option.
  • Headline:The first goal of your headline is to grab attention. The best way is to touch an emotional nerve, or reference a specific “world-view” they might have.
  • Description: The description is where you use copywriting to play on reader’s interests and psychology, and get them to take action.
  • Image: Finally, the goal of your image is to produce a desired result. So it doesn’t have to be explicitly tied to what you’re talking about. Instead, make it sure captures attention and will make an emotional connection.

Here’s an example of all those components coming together:

Becoming a social media publisher allows you to set the tone for engagement, and steer the conversation in ways that ultimately benefit you.

Fix #3: Create Campaigns, Not Launches

Whenever a company has a new launch, promotion, or sale coming up, they want to start “marketing” on the opening day.

But by then, you’ve already lost.

Effectively promoting events or launches takes time, and can’t happen overnight.

“If you want to succeed in social media, then think in quarters, not days.” → [Click here to share this quote]

So tying in to use social channels to distribute those messages farther, faster, and more effectively.

via socialmediatoday.com

Home prices continue steady rise | South Salem NY Real Estate

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The 10- and 20-city S&P/Case-Shiller home price indices posted monthly increases for the fifth month in a row in August, according to a report released today.

Seventeen of the 20 metros tracked by the index posted annual gains in August, with home prices up by an average of 2.0 percent from a year ago.

All but one of the markets tracked in the 20-city composite index posted gains from July to August. The 20-city composite was up 0.9 percent from July on a non-seasonally adjusted basis.

A home price index maintained by the Federal Housing Finance Agency showed home prices up 4.7 percent from a year ago. That index — which tracks homes with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — showed home prices returning to June 2004 levels, but still down 15.9 percent from an April 2007 high.

The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite index shows home prices approximately 35 percent below a June/July 2006 peak. But August’s numbers indicate to industry watchers a positive position for the housing market.

“The sustained good news in home prices over the past five months makes us optimistic for continued recovery in the housing market,” said David M. Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement. “Single family housing starts are 43 percent ahead of last year’s pace, existing and new home sales are also up, the inventory of homes for sale continues to drop and consumer mortgage default rates are reaching new lows.”

Writing on his blog, Calculated Risk, Bill McBride called the recent change to year-over-year annual increases for the Case-Shiller indices a “significant story.”

“The year-over-year gain is better than it sounds,” said Jed Kolko, chief economist for home marketplace Trulia. Since the composite indices only focus on a few metros, some of which have been hard hit in terms of home pricing, the indices have actually “been understating year-over-year national price growth,” he said.


Source: Calculated Risk

Metros in the 20-city composite posting annual declines were Atlanta (-6.1 percent), New York (-2.3 percent), and Chicago (-1.6 percent).

Metro areaJuly 2012 index levelChange from JulyChange from a year ago
Atlanta95.801.8%-6.1%
Boston158.270.7%1.7%
Charlotte116.580.6%2.8%
Chicago117.450.7%-1.6%
Cleveland103.041.0%1.1%
Dallas121.340.1%3.6%
Denver133.480.5%5.5%
Detroit79.182.3%7.6%
Las Vegas96.041.6%0.9%
Los Angeles173.021.3%2.1%
Miami150.121.0%6.7%
Minneapolis124.651.2%7.4%
New York166.320.7%-2.3%
Phoenix119.281.8%18.8%
Portland140.800.5%3.6%
San Diego157.840.9%1.9%
San Francisco142.370.5%5.3%
Seattle141.69-0.1%3.4%
Tampa134.910.4%4.2%
Washington, D.C.194.001.1%4.3%
Composite-10158.620.9%1.3%
Composite-20145.870.9%2.0%

Sources: S&P Dow Jones Indices and Fiserv.

via inman.com

Top reasons to opt for seller financing | South Salem NY Realtor

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The son of a longtime friend recently caught me at a Friday night high-school game and informed me he and his wife had turned down an older home in the neighborhood they always wanted, for a new home in a subdivision.

They also declined the possibility of no-cost seller financing from the owner of the older home because the builder offered a slightly lower rate on the new home.

“We just felt like we wouldn’t have to do anything on the home for years,” Patrick said. “We couldn’t afford any expensive surprises.”

While I disagreed with him on both topics, I kept my opinions to myself because he had already made his decision and was looking forward to moving into his new home. Here’s why I would have chosen differently.

First and foremost, you can always repair or remodel a home, but you can never single-handedly fix a neighborhood. If you know the schools, churches and streets that are important to you, it’s usually best to buy where you have done your primary research. And, new homeowners often underestimate upkeep.

But just as important are the credit and cash needed to get a loan today. Lenders are being more cautious and are demanding more skin in the game.

Recently, Fair Isaac Co., the developer of FICO scores, revealed that 78.5 percent of all consumers have scores that fall between 300 and 749. The FICO score ranges from 300 to 850. So only about one in five American have a FICO score of 750 or higher.

Ellie Mae Inc., a provider of mortgage origination software to lenders, reports that borrowers approved for mortgages in September had an average FICO score of 750. What message does that send to prospective homebuyers?

Besides high credit scores, borrowers are coming in with higher down payments to satisfy lender requirements. According to Ellie Mae, homebuyers who used a Fannie or Freddie loan had, on average, a 21 percent down payment. Homeowners who refinanced had average equity in their homes of 30 percent.

Doug Duncan, Fannie Mae’s chief economist, recently said he thought that loan standards will eventually ease as banks reduce some extra risk-based fees that they have added to benchmark quotes since the mortgage meltdown.

But is there a viable plan B? What if you didn’t have to go to a lender for a home loan?

Seller financing is an underestimated benefit not only because of today’s increased lender scrutiny, but also because the buyer dodges most all the fees associated with the loan. For example, in Patrick’s case, he decided on a 3.5 percent loan from a lender rather than a 4 percent loan from the homeowner.

Let’s say the total costs of a $200,000 loan come to 2 percent of the loan amount, or $4,000. The monthly difference between a 3.5 percent loan and 4 percent loan is approximately $57 a month. Not only would Patrick have to borrow more or come out of pocket with the extra funds (in addition to the down payment needed on the house), but he would also need more than seven years to make up the monthly difference.

While many owners make “cash-out, conventional” financing a requirement when selling a home, others are more than willing to negotiate price and terms. Homes are selling quickly in many neighborhoods, but others continue to sit. It’s those owners who can be “all ears” if it means closing a deal and moving on with their lives.

And, some sellers, particularly seniors with no high-rate place to park their cash, are not opposed to accepting a healthy down payment and “carrying the paper” on their real estate as long as they are guaranteed 4 percent interest on their money. In most cases, it’s difficult to get that rate in non-risk accounts.

Buyers and sellers can build in safety features to make carrying the paper palatable for both sides. If you are a buyer, there’s no harm in asking. You could save time, anxiety and a lot of cash — an inexpensive surprise.

via inman.com

First, do no harm | South Salem NY Real Estate

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Long-term rates rose in the last 10 days, at their worst the 10-year Treasury note to 1.83 percent from 1.65 percent, and mortgages to 3.5 percent despite the Fed’s new $40 billion-per-month QE3.

Many fear a general round of rate increases for the usual reasons: Europe back from the brink, an overdone bond-buying panic, a positive turn in the U.S. economy, and the always-popular endgame of central bank money printing. It’s often hard to isolate the cause of market movements, but not this one. Nor is it hard to spot the reversal today, 10s back to 1.77 percent, stock market hitting a li’l ol’ air pocket.

Europe has been central to this spike, hopes there high for the two-day Brussels summit ending today. Markers: the euro itself rising to $1.31, and yields on Spanish bonds down almost by half.

It is hardly an accident that rates here topped yesterday as the summit turned out to be yet another exercise in talking about more talking. Market pressure is down for the moment in the eurozone, as nobody wants to lash himself to tracks in front of a potential European Central Bank rescue locomotive, no matter how foggy the prospect. As it has seemed for a year, the euro issue will be forced by the social pressure and politics of open-ended depression, and nobody has a model for that groundswell.

Economic data here … all is relative. Those expecting recession have been wrong. The Economic Cycle Research Institute has forecast recession for a solid year, but its own index has turned up. Lest that thought overwhelm you with optimism, it is “up” into no man’s land.

Housing … for reasons best known to stock-pushers, public analysts focus on sales and construction of new homes, which at cyclical peaks account for perhaps 4 percent of GDP. Yes, one can add the contribution of drapes, furniture, appliances and landscaping, but the big deal is prices, always and especially during this collapse of household balance sheets.

Sales of existing homes influence the value of some 70 million dwellings; new homes now are 1 percent of that figure. Existing sales are up 11 percent year over year, and the distressed fraction is down from about 35 percent to maybe 30 percent — good news but not enough to pull the economy anywhere.

Shifting gears to a subject central to Europe and soon to be here, the International Monetary Fund this week released some new thinking on the austerity “multiplier.” If a nation cuts its budget deficit by an amount equal to 1 percent of GDP, how much will it cut GDP? Old thinking had assumed 0.5 percent, but actual experience in Europe has led the IMF to a multiplier in the range of 0.9 percent to 1.7 percent.

There you have the physics of black holes. The more you try to cut your deficit, whether by tax increases or spending cuts, your economy falls out from under you faster that you can repair your national wallet.

Side note. The austerity multiplier in Europe may be so high for other reasons, namely the insanity of bolting low-productivity economies onto the currency of an uber-productive one. Thus the high multiplier there may have no grim implication for the U.S.

In any event, the Left and most of Center in Europe (and soon, here) howl that austerity is too much too fast, and what we need is stimulus, usually in the form of “investment.” Properly calibrating austerity is serious business, but the stimulus multiplier is in question, too.

Prof. Michael Pettis writes the best English-language China blog, www.mpettis.com, and this month explores the difference between stimulus and pork. Any government spending adds some sugar, but must over time add specific and measurable productivity beyond cost. Every friend returning from China and Europe remarks on the gleaming newness of infrastructure, but are these investments an addition to productivity, or a warmer, dryer place for panhandlers in a meltdown?

Investment has been so overdone in China that its stimulus multiplier may be zero.

The most concerning element in these multipliers: What happens at crossover? When you can no longer afford austerity, but your finances are so poor that you can’t borrow more money for stimulus? You can dream for a while about the magic free-money machine at central banks, but Argentina and Zimbabwe are plain-sight lessons.

What happens? You are going to default. Then you can start over.

via inman.com

10 essentials when buying, storing firewood | South Salem NY Real Estate

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With rising fuel costs and wildfires in a lot of forested areas, whether you buy firewood or cut your own, you’re almost sure to see an increase in the cost of the wood you burn this year. So whether that firewood is your primary source of heat or just cheery ambiance on a cold night, it pays to invest wisely and then protect your investment.

Buying firewood

If you buy firewood, there are a number of different sources where you can locate it. Many people turn to their local newspaper, Craigslist or maybe a community bulletin board. Other — and sometimes more reliable — sources of firewood include local tree-trimming services, fireplace shops, and retailers that sell and service chainsaws and related cutting equipment.

Firewood is sold by the cord, which is a stack of wood 4 feet high, 4 feet deep and 8 feet long (128 cubic feet). Firewood is obviously irregular in shape, so the stack also includes the air spaces between the pieces.

That’s what a cord should look like in a perfect world. Ideally, the dealer you’re buying the wood from will deliver it in a truck that makes verification of the load easy, such as a 4-by-8-foot truck bed, with wood stacked 4 feet high. That doesn’t always happen, and you need to be careful when you see a truck roll up with wood tossed in the back: A sloping pile of firewood in a standard pickup truck may contain only 3/4 of a cord.

The other thing you’ll be looking for when you buy your wood is whether it’s dry, also sometimes called “seasoned,” or whether it’s “green.” Dry firewood has been out in the air for a while since it was cut, allowing a significant amount of the wood’s moisture to evaporate, typically down to a moisture content of around 20 percent or less. Green wood still has a lot of the moisture in it — as much as 40 percent — so when you burn it, the fire has to first evaporate that moisture. Therefore the wood burns cooler, and you get less heat energy per cord.

Visually inspect the wood that you buy. Dry wood feels light, has loose bark and darkened ends with clearly visible splits, and makes a very definite “thunking” noise when you hit two pieces together. Wet wood is just the opposite, and will sound dull and heavy when knocked together.

You’ll typically pay a little more for dry wood, but it’s worth the cost if you plan to burn it right away. If you’re going to store the wood for burning next season, then you can save some money by buying green wood and letting it dry.

There are a couple of other ways to save some money when you buy your wood. If you have a truck or a trailer, you might be able to pick the wood up yourself at the dealer’s lot and save delivery charges, and also verify your full cord at the same time. If you have wood delivered, there’ll be an extra charge for stacking, so do that chore yourself if you can. Also, you can usually get firewood in full rounds, or pre-split. If you’re ambitious, consider getting rounds — they’re cheaper, and you can get some great outdoor exercise by doing your own splitting.

Storing and seasoning the wood

Most people store a good portion of their wood supply outside where it can continue to dry and season, and keep a small portion nearby where it’s accessible and ready for use.

Long-term storage areas should be located outside where wind and sun can help with the drying. However, to minimize danger in the event of a wildfire, and also to protect your home’s siding in case the firewood contains any insects, the wood shouldn’t be stacked directly against your house. Also, wood that’s left out in the elements, even if it’s dry, will reabsorb water from rain and snow, as well as from the ground. This will cause it to become too wet to burn efficiently, and eventually it will rot.

Ideally, consider creating an outdoor storage shed for your firewood, with a raised floor, a sloped roof for runoff, and open sides for easy access and unimpeded air circulation. Make it large enough to hold a year’s worth of wood — typically two to four cords, depending on your burning habits.

After the wood is dry, most people create a smaller storage area inside the house, such as in the garage or basement. Depending on your habits and the accessibility of your outside supply, the inside supply could be as small as two or three days’ worth, or large enough to accommodate several weeks of wood.

Finally, create some storage right at the fireplace or wood stove. One very nice solution is a canvas carrying bag with enclosed ends and sides. The wood is stacked in the bag for carrying, then the bag hooks over a decorative metal frame near the fireplace for storage, containing the wood inside the bag to minimize the mess.

You might also consider a decorative metal tub or other container to hold one or two nights’ worth of wood while keeping the dirt and chips contained. While not quite as neat, there are also a number of very attractive open metal storage racks offered by various manufacturers.

Any wood that you store inside needs to be far enough away from the fireplace that it can’t combust. And most importantly, never store newspapers, kindling, pinecones or other easily combustible fire-starting materials next to your fireplace. They can and do start house fires!

via inman.com