08/27/2012: WarmlyYours Weekly Remodeling and Radiant Heating News

August 27 2012

Here is the latest news from the WarmlyYours Weekly Radiant News for this week! We are your one-stop source for all things radiant and the home remodeling industry!

radiant heating and remodeling news from WarmlyYours

This week's featured articles:

"Share Your Story: A Bathroom Remodel Done Right with Radiant Heat"

In 2000, we purchased a 20-year-old home in California and we knew we would be remodeling the bathrooms first. Both of us have extensive remodeling experience and my husband is an Electrician. We live outside of Auburn, CA where it doesn't get too cold in the winter, so we don't normally heat the house except with a wood stove. But warmth in the bathroom was very important. We have ceiling heaters, but the floor on a cement slab was terribly cold.

Our first bathroom remodel was in 2003. We searched around for solutions while planning and tearing out the entire bathroom. And, one day, my husband found an advertisement in one of his house remodeling/building magazines on floor heating systems. We’d seen similar systems used on TV shows, but nothing that would work between the cement slab and the tile … and then we found, WarmlyYours!Read More

"More Signs Housing is Past the Bottom… S&P/Case-Shiller"

Recent news points to further improvements in housing… New Home Sales up 3.6% in July to a two-year high, Existing home sales rebound from June to 4.47 million units at annual rates, and Permits for new construction jump 6.8% despite 1.1% drop in starts. Consumer and builder sentiment reports also positive as preliminary University of Michigan report rose to 73.6 and National Association of Home Builders survey rose to 37 from 35 in June. Overall economy continues to see slow growth with initial unemployment claims four week moving average at 368,000. Read More

"RRI Improvement Continues Through 2012"

This entire year is continuing to shine with improvement in all areas of the remodeling industry! The Residential Remodeling Index (RRI) is showing an increase with remodeling and replacement activity this month.

The RRI is a quarterly measure of the level of remodeling activity in 366 metropolitan statistical areas (MSA) in the U.S., along with the national composite reflecting the national level of activity. Home improvement and replacement projects are considered “activity”, but maintenance or projects of less than $500 are not included. The seasonally adjusted index shows the relative level of activity in the geography specified (MSA or national composite) compared to 2007 (the baseline year). A number above 100 indicates a level of remodeling activity higher than the level of activity at the beginning of 2007, which was the peak of remodeling activity in the prior decade. Read More

"Don't Freak Out When the Appraisal is Lower Than Expected"

Every professional involved in the sale of your home has the potential to be your best friend or your worst enemy. For example, the appraiser is usually pretty harmless -- the worst they do is inspire a white-glove cleaning to prep your place for their photos. Appraisers do wield the power, though, to derail your deal with a few keystrokes, by typing in an opinion of your home's fair market value that is below what the buyer agreed to pay. The buyer's lender requires that the place be appraised at the purchase price, at minimum, so a low appraisal throws a major mortgage monkey wrench into the sale. Read More

-----------