Some of the earliest signs of the present economic troubles appeared in the nation's housing industry.  Presently, new home starts (as indicated by permit activity) have dredged 25-year lows, and existing home sales have fallen even as they become seemingly more affordable amidst heretofore unseen devaluation.  As lenders tighten their practices, real estate finance has become markedly more conservative, decreasing the ability for many to obtain credit for purchases and improvements.

While the daily headlines emphasize these and other domestic economic problems, is it any surprise that

Mason:

It appears that we have a leak from an upstairs shower, right over our dining room table below. Is this a job for a plumber or a handyman service, or what?

Bob S., Glen Allen, VA

Bob,

Most know that the works of Frank Lloyd Wright were fraught with technical problems.  I recall the story of an angry letter from Edgar Kaufmann (owner of the famous Fallingwater house) to Mr. Wright, complaining of a roof leak over his dining room table.  Wright's flip response:  "What a perfect place for a bowl!".

Seriously, though, let's first get familiar with the particulars of your shower, toward

Mason,

My family is purchasing a 1950's home, and our home inspector noted a concern about the poor condition of the "caps" on the chimneys, as well as some of the bricks and mortar directly below.  He could not inspect the entire inside of the chimney (although he did note alot of creosote inside, when he opened the damper at the fireplaces).  The seller is having a masonry contractor come out for another look.  How concerned should we be?

Assuming that we might be concerned, I have seen stainless chimney liners advertised and at home shows.  Is this a good solution?

Jim L, Cleveland, OH

Jim,

If

Who thought the interest in gambling would be so great that the World Series of Poker would be televised on ESPN?  Obviously, somebody's watching.

An interesting point in that regard, quoting Pug Pearson, 1973 World Series of Poker champion, made this observation about human nature:

"The real thing to know is that folks will stand to lose more than they will to win.  That's the most important percentage there is.  I mean, if they lose, they're willin' to lose everything.  If they win, they're usually satisfied to win only enough to pay for dinner and a show..."

I was thinking about this

One of my favorite entries was lost during some recent website updating, so I thought I'd re-post it here.  The theme appears to be more pertinent than ever as home values have taken a turn unlike that seen in previous years.  Read on...

Somewhere during early conversations with almost every client, we are asked something to the effect of "Do you think we'll build value with our proposed renovation?"

Naturally, I have had plenty of opportunity to build (what I think is) the proper response, which asks the homeowner to dig deeper regarding his or her definition of value.

From my perspective,