With all the rain that we have had lately, homes that have never had water issues suddenly are. The ground is becoming very saturated and can't take a lot more...thus the path of least resistance may be into your basement or crawl space. And the upcoming forecast is calling for more rain...
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?zoneid=AKZ111
Make sure that your gutters are clear and that your downspouts are long enough so that the rain water can get far enough away from the house. If you have more water coming over the sides of your gutters than is coming out the downspouts, hire someone to come and clean them so that they are operating properly.
The added bonus to checking your gutters now is that winter is soon coming and if they aren't draining properly due to composting leaves and debris, they will fill with water and freeze soon contributing to ice dams.
Take a couple of minutes tonight to makes sure that things are as they should be.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Existing home sales numbers are out...and....
The August existing home sales report came out today and there is some reason to be somewhat happy.
Somewhat.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2012/09/19/existing-home-sales-leap-78-fastest-pace-since-may-2010/
The numbers went up almost 8% last month and the average national price went up by nearly 10%. The number of homes that are estimated to sell this year is hovering around 4.8 million...that's a lot of homes. But when that number is placed against the 7+ million that sold in 2005, it pales in comparison. Granted the 2005 number was during the period when you could fog a mirror to get a mortgage.
Now we have record low interest rates and the housing affordability index, while not at the highest point in recorded history like it was in February of 2012, it is off the charts compared to its ranking in 2005 at the peak of the market. So why isn't the US home market skyrocketing? That's simple...it is the nation's jobless rate teamed with the tightening credit markets. No job = No mortgage
The housing market will explode at such point as the nation's jobless numbers improve...and not the fractionally decreasing jobless number that we are currently witnessing as that number declining is more a result of workers dropping out of the workforce and no longer being counted. Not as a result of the type of job creations that are necessary to drop that number.
In watching the extracurricular activities in the middle east over the last week, it has become perfectly clear that we as a country need to become energy independent once and for all. No more idol chatter...
We currently import roughly 9 million barrels of foreign oil each day. At approximately $100/barrel that is nearly a billion dollars a day that we are losing in foreign trade. What would happen if that production came domestically? And what would the resulting effect be on the US economy? It is staggering to even comprehend. The amount of US jobs that would be created would immediately have a positive influence on the overall economy. With nearly a billion dollars a day leaving our border, with much of it going to countries that are not pro-USA, it would go a long way to not only solving our own energy shortfall, but go a long way toward solving our nation's debt crisis while pulling the economic "rug" out from under those countries that do not like us.
The nation's housing crisis would also improve within a matter of about 3 years as excess inventory was absorbed and the market begin to experience an appreciatory period as a result of declining supply. Many have said that an increase in the housing market and new home starts will stimulate job growth to take our country out of a recession. And while that may have been true in the past, the current housing recovery will only truly come as a result of job growth first, and not due to an artificially declining jobless rate.
And that is not presently on the radar.
Somewhat.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2012/09/19/existing-home-sales-leap-78-fastest-pace-since-may-2010/
The numbers went up almost 8% last month and the average national price went up by nearly 10%. The number of homes that are estimated to sell this year is hovering around 4.8 million...that's a lot of homes. But when that number is placed against the 7+ million that sold in 2005, it pales in comparison. Granted the 2005 number was during the period when you could fog a mirror to get a mortgage.
Now we have record low interest rates and the housing affordability index, while not at the highest point in recorded history like it was in February of 2012, it is off the charts compared to its ranking in 2005 at the peak of the market. So why isn't the US home market skyrocketing? That's simple...it is the nation's jobless rate teamed with the tightening credit markets. No job = No mortgage
The housing market will explode at such point as the nation's jobless numbers improve...and not the fractionally decreasing jobless number that we are currently witnessing as that number declining is more a result of workers dropping out of the workforce and no longer being counted. Not as a result of the type of job creations that are necessary to drop that number.
In watching the extracurricular activities in the middle east over the last week, it has become perfectly clear that we as a country need to become energy independent once and for all. No more idol chatter...
We currently import roughly 9 million barrels of foreign oil each day. At approximately $100/barrel that is nearly a billion dollars a day that we are losing in foreign trade. What would happen if that production came domestically? And what would the resulting effect be on the US economy? It is staggering to even comprehend. The amount of US jobs that would be created would immediately have a positive influence on the overall economy. With nearly a billion dollars a day leaving our border, with much of it going to countries that are not pro-USA, it would go a long way to not only solving our own energy shortfall, but go a long way toward solving our nation's debt crisis while pulling the economic "rug" out from under those countries that do not like us.
The nation's housing crisis would also improve within a matter of about 3 years as excess inventory was absorbed and the market begin to experience an appreciatory period as a result of declining supply. Many have said that an increase in the housing market and new home starts will stimulate job growth to take our country out of a recession. And while that may have been true in the past, the current housing recovery will only truly come as a result of job growth first, and not due to an artificially declining jobless rate.
And that is not presently on the radar.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Can you help reunite items found with the owner?
Everyone, I need your help....
We recently were up at Hatcher Pass picking blueberries and found an SD card for a camera along with a battery for some kind of camera. Perhaps you know who might have lost them. If so, give a call at (907)352-1828 if you can help reunite them with the rightful owner. I checked the card to see if there was any pictures on there that might help in identifying who the owner might be, but it was empty.
Hope to get these back to whomever lost them.
Have a good week,
Greg
We recently were up at Hatcher Pass picking blueberries and found an SD card for a camera along with a battery for some kind of camera. Perhaps you know who might have lost them. If so, give a call at (907)352-1828 if you can help reunite them with the rightful owner. I checked the card to see if there was any pictures on there that might help in identifying who the owner might be, but it was empty.
Hope to get these back to whomever lost them.
Have a good week,
Greg
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