Latest HomeAdditionPlus.com Newsletter (June, 14, 2010)

By Mark J. Donovan

Yesterday I released my latest HomeAdditionPlus.com newsletter. In it I include a new Puzzler Contest Question. Send me your correct answer to the Puzzler Question and you have a chance to win a $100 Home Depot gift certificate and a free can of KILZ Clean Start zero VOC primer.

Besides the Puzzler contest, there are several other interesting home improvement topics discussed that you will want to read about, including a video on how to install a new garage door opener, and an article on fireplace firebacks.

So check out my newsletter at HomeAdditionPlus.com Newsletter today!

Asphalt Shingle Roofing Cost Calculator

Get Estimated Roofing Costs in Just Seconds

By mark J. Donovan

I just completed an asphalt shingle roofing cost calculator that I have posted on HomeAdditionPlus.com. The Asphalt Shingle Roofing Cost Calculator is a free tool for homeowners to quickly get an idea of how much it is going to cost them to have their roof reshingled. All that you need to do to use the roofing cost calculator is answer a few simple questions and hit the calculate button. Within seconds, your internet browser will refresh and provide you with an estimated asphalt shingle roofing cost estimate. You can also easily go back and change responses to the questions to produce additional asphalt shingle roofing cost estimates.

The Asphalt Shingle Roofing Cost Calculator complement’s HomeAdditionPlus.com’s highly popular Asphalt Shingle Roofing Bid Sheet. The Asphalt Shingle Roofing Bid Sheet has been out for several years and has helped many homeowners hire the right roofing contractor for their particular roofing project. The Asphalt Shingle Roofing Bid Sheet includes:

• A "Request for Quote" Roofing Contractor Checklist
• Expected Asphalt Shingle Roofing Cost Estimates
• Extensive asphalt shingle roofing guidance tips, to ensure a shingled roof that will not leak and stand up to the worst of wind conditions.

So if your home’s asphalt shingled roof is in rough shape, make sure to check out HomeAdditionPlus.com’s Asphalt Shingle Roofing Cost Calculator and Asphalt Shingle Roofing Bid Sheet today!

Is it the Right Time to Buy a New Home?

Evaluate both the Federal and your own Personal Financial Prospects Before Buying a New Home

By Mark J. Donovan

The housing market has been in a tail spin for about 3 years now. On average, selling home prices are down nearly 30% from their peak. Mortgage rates are still at their lowest levels in nearly 50 years. So is now the right time to buy a new home? Is now the time to take the plunge and scale up to the bigger or more luxurious home? In some cases the answer is a definite, absolutely! On the other hand, it also depends upon your particular situation, e.g. your employment status? It also depends on your timeline on how long you plan on holding onto the new home.

So the answer on buying a new home is still somewhat grey in many peoples’ minds today, and that is why the housing market has continued to languish. Very few people have confidence in the staying power of their employment, if they even have employment. With 10% unemployment officially, and more like 17-18% unofficially, there are many people either out of work or know of a friend or neighbor that is.

So to determine if this is the right time to buy a new home for you, there are a few questions you should ask yourself first.

First, are you ultimately long term optimistic about the country’s future? If you are, then it may make sense to buy that new home now. If you’re not, then you might want to hunker down to a European austerity program lifestyle.

My personal view is that though our federal, state, and local governments have been spending with unwanted abandoned for the past 18 to 24 months, the American public is finally sobering up to the fact that they were sold a utopian fantasy by the latest group of progressive charlatans. I suspect center America will not put up with this much longer and through the power of the voting booth begin to rectify this problem in November. So being an optimist, I suspect our current financial and unemployment crisis will not stand, and thus the housing market will significantly improve in the next couple of years.

Second, are you optimistic about your own future employment? If you’re comfortable with your present employment situation for the next couple of years, then now may be a good time to buy the new home. Again, with a change in federal political leadership, we should expect to see a re-investment in corporations and entrepreneurs by 2011/2012. By offering tax incentives and investments into emerging business opportunities the U.S. should begin to see sustainable growth in the next 3 to 5 years, thus ensuring your employability out to and beyond 2015. If, on the other hand, you’re current employment is tenuous then now may not be a good time to buy the new home. It may make more sense to hold off a couple of years until the employment picture becomes a bit more clearer.

Third, is your family growing? If it is, then now is probably a very good time to buy a new home. Unless we go into a depression, which could happen if things don’t change at the federal level this fall – but I’m optimistic they will, this is the time to buy the new home. If you have steady employment and a growing family, the chances of finding home prices and borrowing rates this cheap may not happen again in your lifetime.

So evaluate your own financial situation and ask yourself if you believe the country will change its course to a more financially prudent one. If you are bullish on both of these accounts, then buy the new home and hold on for the ride. It could be a little choppy in the next year or two, but 5 years from now I think the picture will be much brighter. Let’s hope so for all our sakes!!

No Surprise Home Sale Contract Signings were Up In April

By Mark J. Donovan

So is anyone really surprised that home sale contract signings were up in April. Anyone with a pulse and was in the market for buying a home new the home purchase federal tax credit was about to expire on 5/1/10. To qualify for the federal hand out, a purchase and sales contract needed to be signed by this date.

Though some in the real estate industry are touting this positive factoid as signs of things to come in the hard hit real estate market, I'm not so sure. With the federal tax credit now expired, what's the compelling reason to go out and buy a new home. Interest rates have been at record lows for months and home sales and prices have languished at best. Until the employment picture becomes brighter I'm hard pressed to believe that this uptick in home sale contract signings is sustainable. As a matter of fact, I won't be at all surprised to see that actual home sale contract signings dropped in May and will stay flat through June.

Time will tell, but until the job market improves don't expect any explosive improvement in home sales.

Pollen Clouds Hazing Up the Memorial Day Weekend Skyline

Pollen Clouds Blanketing New Hampshire

By Mark J. Donovan

I looked out my front windows late this morning and saw this thick haze over Lake Winnipesaukee. It was as if it was late July with 90 degree temps and equal humidity levels. The only difference was that this haze had a yellow tint. It was pollen.

We've had very little rain in central New Hampshire for the past several weeks and the pollen from the trees is just blowing all over the place. Its like watching large low level clouds float by.

The pollen is also coating everything on the ground. Its as if a volcano errupted and spewed an ash cloud over us.

Hopefully we'll get some rain soon to wash this pollen away.