Could you lose your house over a water bill?

The Consumerist tells a chilling story about tax liens.

"Say you fall behind on your property taxes, or choose to make your car payment instead of the water bill. It doesn't take much for some municipalities to file a tax lien against a homeowner, often a debt of only a few hundred dollars [...] Those liens are often sold to companies that tack on substantial interest rates starting in the 18% range, and upwards of 50%. These lien buyers also charge huge fees to redeem the liens and avoid foreclosure. [...] redemption penalties in Georgia, Iowa, Mississippi, New Jersey, and Texas all exceed 20%."

"There is the Baltimore woman whose $362 water bill was sold off to a lien buyer. Interest and fees caused the amount to balloon up to $3,600. She couldn't pay and lost her house.

An 81-year-old woman in Rhode Island owed $474 on her sewer bill. The tax lien buyer snatched up her lien for $836 and then made a huge profit by selling her house for $85,000."

"The consequences of homeowners not understanding their rights or the process of a tax lien sale is devastating for individuals, families, and communities."

Staying warm when the heat is out

Winter is not a season, it's an occupation.
~Sinclair Lewis

Here are some ideas for staying warm when your house/apt. heat is not working:

Dress warmly! Wear a hat and socks indoors and even in bed! Dress in many layers from head to fingers to toes. Put on a winter coat or make your own by stuffing your clothing with crumbled up newspapers, paper towels or other insulating materials.

Snuggle and share body heat with family and pets.

Heat rises so stay upstairs.
Plug any air gaps around windows and doors.

Close doors to unused rooms. This will reduce drafts and retain what little heat your bodies give off.

Cover floors with a carpet or blanket.

Vigorous exercise warms the body and moves heat to fingers and toes.

When sitting still wrap yourself in a blanket or thick bathrobe.

Bottom Line

Know your limits to avoid frost bite and hypothermia! Sometimes the best thing to do is leave a cold house and find a shelter with heat.

Most fireplaces do a poor job of heating a room. NEVER leave a fire unattended or burning while you sleep and do not dispose of fireplace ashes near your house. Space heaters and candles are a fire risk when used near flammable items. Gas powered heaters are also a carbon monoxide risk when there is no ventilation.

NEVER use a power generator indoors. While TV news emphasizes tornados, hurricanes and earthquakes, the real killers in nature are heat and cold. Globally there are more deaths from extreme cold than from extreme storms. Freezing to death is very real, especially for senior citizens and infants. Freezing cold can also inspire desperate measures to stay warm which lead to death by house fire or carbon monoxide poisoning.

When is it too cold to stay home?

How low can you go?

- lyrics to "Limbo Rock"

I was asked yesterday, "If a house is without heat, at what temperature does it become unsafe to stay?" Or to put it another way, "At what temperature should one evacuate a home?"

I've searched the Internet and found nothing useful so I'm hoping that some reader can provide an answer. One site said that temperatures below 70 F can be dangerous (to the elderly perhaps???) if no protection is taken (like a sweater?). That seems way too extreme. At my home in winter, I'm lucky if I can convince the wife to set the thermostat up to 63 F. It's often 60 by day and 55 at night. For me 63 F is tolerable with layered clothing but below that my fingers become chilled.

When we lost power with the Halloween Nor'Easter we put on coats and hats and did OK for awhile as the temperature fell over several days. At 40 F we were becoming concerned but then the power was restored.

A site on wind chill said that -20 F was "dangerous". It may be true that even brief exposure to -20 F is dangerous but what about prolonged exposure? Someplace else warned about 30 F and below.  At that temperature you must to take active precautions to prevent your extremities from freezing with frostbite but it is survivable. When I attended an igloo making class the instructor warned against overheating the inside of the igloo. If the temperature got above 32 F the igloo would melt from the inside-out. So igloo dwellers must cope with the 30-32 F range.

Bottom Line

There might not be one simple answer. Temperature tolerance does depend on age and health and body fat. Still it would be nice to know how low is safe?

When will House Prices Return to Normal?

“Home is where you can say anything you please, because nobody pays any attention to you anyway”
- Joe Moore

In 2008 a sharp drop in home prices ($9 trillion lost) resulted in a near total collapse of the financial markets. If you're lucky any stocks you owned may have recovered back to 2008 levels. If you're a home owner you may be wondering, when will my house price recover and start going up again?

If the Case-Shiller Index by Yale economist Robert Shiller is correct, the answer is not good. House prices ballooned by 87% starting in 1997 and the pricing decline won't cease until homes return to 1997 values (adjusted for inflation).

Steve Barry at Ritholtz.com/blog created a chart illustrating Shiller's housing price index from 1890 and updated it to Jan 2011 (adjusted for inflation). The index is for home resales, not new sales.

As you can see from the chart, the current "boom" still has some deflating to do.

Bottom Line

I've been thinking that this was a good time to buy and a bad time to sell a house. But if the prediction of the chart above is accurate, then house prices will fall even further and stay flat until the next boom. So do you sell now or wait? Tough call. The chart above is missing a few things that push prices upwards:

"One should also adjust home prices for size — homes square footage shot up tremendously from 1995 to 2007, for Inflation (we had a huge inflationary surge from 2001-07, as the dollar collapsed 41%) and for Quality (high end materials and appliances migrated from the most expensive homes through to the top 30%."

P.S.

If you use this chart, please credit Steve Barry and his website Ritholtz.com/blog

See also http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2011/04/12/home-sweet-home-still/ for a PEW report on prices and public perception.

Is Your Smoke Alarm Working?

Smoke Alarm Dead Zone

If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience.
~Robert Fulghum, author of "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten"

Last month two stories caught my eye regarding house fires at Christmas time.

The first took place in Montclair, NJ on Dec 21. A family of five heard fire crackling around 5pm and had 45 seconds to escape before the living room was engulfed in flame. Officials think it was the Christmas tree that ignited. All family members and the family's dog made it out without injury, although the family's jet black cat is missing. The house is a complete loss.

The other story had a sadder ending. A Christmas morning fire in a $1.7 million house in Stamford, CT killed the parents and children of the owner. The children's mother climbed out a window onto scaffolding and then a flat roof. She screamed for her children and told firefighters which bedrooms they were in. The fireman tried twice to enter the third floor of the house but the flames and heat were too intense. The mother's parents were staying for the holiday and also died in the fire. Officials think the cause was old fireplace embers that had been discarded near a first-floor entryway.

Last year, old embers discarded outside also caused a fire in a friend's house. The wife was at home when she heard someone knocking furiously at her door. She was afraid to answer it, thinking it some crazed person, but instead it was a passing driver who saw the house was on fire and wanted to warn anyone inside.

Bottom Line

Make sure you have working Smoke Alarms. Some sites recommend a monthly test and replacing the batteries twice a year when you set the clocks forward and back.

Also be sure to place them properly. Smoke rises so a detector placed low on a wall will alarm much too late. I also learned just last week that there is a space called the "dead zone" that you must avoid placing smoke alarms. The dead zone is everything within 4"-6" of the line where the wall and ceiling meet. (see image above) Air flow is restricted (dead air) along this edge and smoke won't reach the alarm quickly.

Things hidden underground

Police Captain Renault: I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!
[a croupier hands Renault a pile of money]
Croupier: Your winnings, sir.
Captain Renault: [sotto voce] Oh, thank you very much.
-Casablanca

There has been much to-do made over the Keystone XL Pipeline project from Canada down to Texas. Even the President has opposed it. But a graphic shows this is much ado about nothing. Closing the barn door after the horse has fled. Etc.

Here's a chart of EXISTING pipelines

Bottom Line

The Canadian pipeline is nothing new. So why all the debate over it? What's the real reason for the opposition?

P.S.
I also want to mention that it is important to know what lies underground at your house. Utility companies warn, call us before you dig. It's way too easy now-a-days to cut through a buried power line or cable.

A co-worker has lost her home due to a hidden surprise. An electrician sank a new grounding rod for an upgrade to her home's electrical system. Problem was, unbeknownst to anyone, the rod cut through the pipe leading from the underground oil tank to the home's furnace. The tank was refilled a few days later and all that oil leaked into the soil under the house. After much wrangling with lawyers and insurance companies, the insurer for the electrician agreed to dig up and rebuild the kitchen over the spill. The kitchen was demolished but further environmental testing showed the oil had spread far under the foundation - the entire house would have to be demolished. At this stage the insurer is negotiating to buy the house and write it off as a complete loss instead of rebuilding.

No Cook Meal Ideas

"Food, glorious food!
Hot sausage and mustard!
While we're in the mood
Cold jelly and custard!"
- from the musical "Oliver"

In case of prolonged power outages, major snow storms, massive flooding, chemical spill, terrorist attack, etc. you may need to shelter inside your house for several days. The old rule-of-thumb was 3 days of supplies (72-hour kit) but since Hurricane Katrina that rule has been increased to 5 to 7 days of food and water and back-up power/light/heat.

When I visit a grocery store I'm amazed at the variety of ready-to-serve meals that require just a little time in a microwave, oven or boiling water. But suppose you did not have any of those options? What can you store and eat that does not require cooking?

• Protein/Granola Bars
• Trail Mix/Cereal/Dried Fruit/Seeds  (not premixed since this goes stale quickly. We keep boxes of cereal, nuts, raisins, etc. and can mix them when needed)
• Crackers (use in place of bread for sandwiches. We like Matzoh bread. You can buy 5 lb box very cheaply after Passover and they last forever - if they go stale, who can tell the difference?)
• Peanut butter  (Jelly works too but buy small jars because you won't be able to refrigerate the jelly/jam after opening)
• Canned meats like Tuna, Turkey, Beef, Vienna Sausages, etc.
• Beef Jerky
• Canned Fruit, Applesauce
• Pickles
• Canned Juice, Boxed Juice, V-8 Juice
• Canned Vegetables (these are precooked and could be eaten raw if you had too. Or mix them into Tuna for a cracker spread)
• Candy/Gum (watch out for soft candies that can melt like Jolly Ranchers or chocolate)

Consider also keeping in stock these perisable items that will last a few days without power:

• Pita bread, flatbread or tortillas
• Bag of carrots
• Hard Cheeses & individually packaged sticks of mozzarella string cheese
• Fresh fruit
• Summer sausage or hard salami-- cans of german-style potato salad (it's made with a vinegary dressing and bacon bits, add cut-up summer sausage and diced sun-dried tomatoes and it's a tasty and filling casserole "salad") Be sure and bring a can opener if this isn't pop-top
• Cookies
• Hard-boiled eggs (eat them within the first day or two)

Bottom Line

Some people like to fill #10 cans with non-perishable emergency rations from the list above. But if you mix foods beware of strong odors. Mint candy, Teriyaki Jerky, Irish Springs soap, etc., can flavor all the other foods when packaged together.

Back-up Power

"Marriage has no guarantees. If that's what you're looking for, go live with a car battery."
-Erma Bombeck

One of the items on my to-do list is to get a backup power generator. But there are so many issues and questions. What size, how does it work? And there are dangers: it must be used outdoors, gasoline must be stored, etc.

A good starting point is an How Emergency Power Systems Work from HowStuffWorks.com. There are 6+ pages in the series so be sure to read each:

1. Introduction to How Emergency Power Systems Work
2. Emergency Power Options and Goals
3. Understanding Your Power Needs
4. Choosing Between an Inverter and a Generator
5. Hooking the Power into Your House
6. Lots More Information

Some of the things I learned:
- add a gas stabilizer for gas stored more than one month
- know the peak pull of an appliance. A fridge may not pull much juice while idling but when the compressor turns out, power pull will spike. Many sites on efficient energy usage only report the average power used.
- consider alternating appliances. Run the fridge to cool it down, then unplug it and let the well pump increase the water pressure. Both won't work at the same time but you can stagger usage.

Bottom Line

There's an alternative to gas powered generators now, power inverters. Inverters attach to large batteries (like a car battery) and convert the direct current to alternating current for appliances. There are quiet and safe and affordable in small sizes. Sadly not so cheap for 5000 watt sizes and they may only last for a few hours to a day at best.

Stairway to Heaven

"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven"
- Stairway to Heaven by Led Zeppelin

While our house is being painted by a contractor, our timid cat goes into hiding. We looked everywhere but could not find the cat in his usual hiding spots. Turns out he found a new location to hide, under the stairs.

For other ideas of how to use the space under your stairs, check out

http://remodelista.com/posts/storage-staircase-solutions

I'd love to have the drawers built into the steps.

We do use a stair-step basket pictured below....

Bottom Line

I recently read that many firehouses are banning the sliding pole to quickly get downstairs. Too many accidents! No more bat-poles for batman.

Tired of your normal stairs? Check out these radical ideas for unusual stairs, http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2008/11/22/unusual-and-creative-staircase-designs/

Christmas Trees

He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. 
~Roy L. Smith

O Tannenbaum, o Tannenbaum
Wie true sind deine Blätter
- German lyrics to O Christmas Tree, your leaves are so reliable.

Welcome to December and Merry Christmas! Locally we have a radio station that plays Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving. And I noticed the malls are playing Christmas songs and decorated for the holiday. So perhaps you're ready to buy a Christmas Tree? Here's some advice from http://www.moneytalksnews.com/.

Buying a cut Christmas tree

1. Choose the place you’re putting the tree and take some measurements: Height is obvious, but don’t forget the width of the doors you’ll be going through or the area of the room you’ll be putting your tree in. You’ll want to keep your tree as far away as possible from heat sources like vents, fireplaces, or radiators.
2. The sooner you buy one, the better: Ask the dealer when their trees were cut: the fresher the better. Many people assume that getting a tree early is a bad idea, because it might wither and start shedding needles before New Year’s. While this seems logical, a cut Christmas tree is only going to last so long – it doesn’t care whether it’s sitting in a lot down the street or in your living room. In other words, once it’s cut, it’s cut, so put it in your home as soon as possible. Buying early also means a better selection.
3. Do your own freshness test: There are several things you can do to test the freshness of a Christmas tree: First, grab a branch by the needles and pull it – the needles should stay on. Next, bend a branch and see if it’s supple: Ideally, it should bend without snapping. Finally, pick up the tree and drop it to see how many needles shake loose: the fewer the better.
4. Inspect the base: Ever brought home that perfect tree, only to find that the base isn’t straight and the tree leans to one side? Me too. That’s why now I make sure the last foot of the trunk is totally straight.
5. Look at it again before you bring it inside: Make sure there’s no insects or other unpleasantness hiding in the branches. Pick it up and drop it again.

Making your tree last

Properly cared for, your cut Christmas tree should last well over a month. Here’s what to do …

1. When you buy your tree from the lot, they’ll cut an inch or so off the bottom – get the tree into water as soon as possible.
2. When it comes to making a Christmas tree last, water isn’t the main thing: It’s the only thing. Use a stand that holds as much water as possible, then keep it filled at all times. If the bottom of the trunk is exposed to air, resin will form over it and it will no longer be able to absorb water: game over. Check the water supply every day without fail. To make your life easier, get a funnel, connect it to a short length of tubing that empties into the stand, and then hide it all in the branches when you’re not using it.
3. You don’t need distilled or other specialty water, nor do you need chemical preservatives. Tap water is fine – just make sure the supply is sufficient.
4. Remember that heat is not your friend – if your Christmas lights generate heat, use them sparingly and always turn them off at night. Miniature lights produce less heat than bigger ones.

Bottom Line

Keep your tree well watered and alive. A dry or dead tree is a fire hazard as discussed in my post, Christmas Trees = Fire Trap?  Don't miss the burning tree video at www.fire.gov/newsletter/summer2001/page_two.htm

Preparing for Winter

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten,
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow"

"With winter right around the corner, it's never too early to start preparing for snowstorms, icy roads, and other types of severe weather," says FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate.  "Whether you live in an area that is used to severe winters or not, there are three simple steps all Americans should take to get ready: put together an emergency supply kit, develop a family communications plan, and stay informed about the risks and emergencies in your community." For helpful tips and recommendations see http://www.Ready.gov/america/beinformed/winter.html.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) outlook forecast is that the Pacific Northwest could have a colder and wetter than average winter, while the South may be warmer and drier than usual.  Severe winter weather can include snow or subfreezing temperatures, strong winds and ice or heavy rain storms.  An emergency supply kit both at home and in the car will help prepare people for winter power outages and icy or impassable roads.

According to FEMA, an emergency supply kit should include a three-day supply of food and water, a battery-powered or hand-crank radio and extra flashlights and batteries.  Thoroughly check and update your family's emergency supply kit and add the following supplies in preparation for winter weather:

• Ensure your home and car are prepared for the winter weather
• Buy rock salt to melt ice on walkways
• Buy sand (we use kitty litter) to improve traction on ice or snow when the car is stuck
• Purchase snow shovels and other snow removal equipment (keep a small shovel in your car trunk)
• Have adequate clothing and blankets to help keep you warm.
• Update your family preparedness plan and contacts list
• Test your family plan
• Learn about the emergency plans that have been established in your area by your state and local government and your children's schools

Bottom Line

Keep informed of weather alerts via TV, radio, email, blackberry, etc. Ensure that you follow at least one of these to get advance notice of the following winter hazards:

• Freezing Rain creates a coating of ice on roads and walkways.
• Sleet is rain that turns to ice pellets before reaching the ground. Sleet also causes roads to freeze and become slippery.
• Winter Weather Advisory means cold, ice and snow are expected.
• Winter Storm Watch means severe weather such as heavy snow or ice is possible in the next day or two.
• Winter Storm Warning means severe winter conditions have begun or will begin very soon.

Short Selling a House

"Our house is a very, very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard"
- Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young

A family I know fell behind in their mortgage payments and wanted to work with the bank to catch up but the bank refused to cooperate. After a year with no settlement, the bank has agreed to "short sell" the house and our friend will move elsewhere. What does "short selling" mean?

A short sale is a sale of real estate in which the sale price falls short of the balance owed on the property's loan. ... Both parties consent to the short sale, because it allows them to avoid foreclosure, which involves hefty fees for the bank and poorer credit report outcomes for the borrowers. This agreement, however, does not necessarily release the borrower from the obligation to pay the remaining balance of the loan. - Wikipedia

In a short sale the house is sold at or near market prices in a depressed market (much higher than a foreclosure sale but less than the purchase price). The seller saves their credit rating but may still have to make good on the entire loan (ouch!)

The buyer of a short sale may get a great price but the money saved might not be worth the extra hassle and additional months to closing. Read "What It's Like To Buy A Short Sale House" from Consumerist.com. The story ends happily but oh, the stress and follow-ups and loops to jump through along the way. And there was always the chance that the house would be auctioned off before the short sale was closed (and even afterwards).

Bottom Line

Read the comments on the Consumerist Short Sale story for more examples of short sales gone bad (or very slowwwwly). As one buyer put it, "I certainly would not recommend the short sale process to anybody, ever."

Washing Machines

Step up to the tub
It ain't no disgrace
Just pull up your sleeves
And get up in place
Then scoop up the water
And rub it on your face
An' go blud-dle-ud-dle-ud-dle
Ud-dle-um-dum
-Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

I'm very lucky to have a reliable Maytag washing that is older than our marriage. It was made back in the days when quality mattered. When we had an energy audit the auditor told us that new machines are more energy efficient but the cost savings is not enough to justify buying a new machine.

Our machine is a top-loader, popular in 3 out of 4 households. And yet front-loading washing machines are generally more efficient and clean your clothes better. Also curiously, when I type "washing machine" into Google images, the entire first page is front-loaders. So why are top-loading machines more popular? Consumer Reports investigated and came up with these reasons:

1. Cost: Front-loading machines are 25-50% more expensive. That's a big deal killer.
2. Vibration: Front-loaders shake more and may be noisier depending on your flooring.
3. Awkward: Bending down to add or remove clothes is harder on the back.
4. Mold: The seal on front-loaders gets moldy if you wash only in cold water.

Bottom Line

The article mentions that some who have tried front-loaders change back to top-loaders. Now that I know this, I'll think I'll stick with top loaders in the future.

Can you find my home?

"There's no place like home" – Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz

It seems no one can find our house. We live at an intersection of D- (a side road) and M- (a main road). The driveway to our house is on D-. Our front door faces M- across our lawn so we have an M- street address. Our mailbox is on a pole shared with our neighbor adjacent to his driveway on M-. Inevitably people see our mailbox and go up our neighbor’s driveway to his house. We’ve had UPS leave our packages on his stoop. Nothing seems to help. We have giant glow-in-the-dark House Letters on a tree in our yard. We have a large house number near the door of our house.

But everyone looks at the mailbox. So we added a giant foam hand beneath our mailbox with a finger pointing to our house. Still we had company come for dinner last week, see the finger, and still go to the wrong house. We can laugh at that. Less funny is the misdirected packages. Not at all funny would be EMTs going to the wrong house after I call 9-1-1.

Sometimes having a visible house number is not enough. In Westchester County we used to have unnamed, private roads that people lived on. With 9-1-1 every road was named and every house numbered. Sometimes an address makes no sense. The New York Times story, Nice Address, but Where Is It Really?, describes the problem in Manhattan of “vanity” addresses that use an address number out of sequence or use the address of the “swankier” street around the corner. In Tokyo the story says, house number 1 used to be the first house built on a street, #2 the second, and so on. There was no physical ordering of the house numbers so #12 could be anywhere along a street.

Bottom Line

Put yourself in the shoes of the ambulance or EMT who is trying to find your house. On a dark moonless night, go stand in the street see if anything marks your house as identifiable. Better yet, drive by in a car at night with lights on and see if you can find the house number – are the numbers on the mailbox legible? Can the numbers be seen driving in both directions? If not put new, larger, numbers on your house and mailbox. The numbers on your house or door need to be lit by the porch light or other house light.

If you have a sidewalk curb, spraypaint your house number onto the curb.