Whether you’re getting ready to pack up your belongings at your summer home or prepping a vacant home for sale, your main concern this winter is to take actions that will prevent the home from sustaining unexpected damage. Here are the steps to consider when winterizing a home:

1. Make repairs before turning off the utilities. A leaky pipe may not be noticed right away when the water is turned back on. A loose wire causing an arc or short may not be noticed either. Would-be buyers looking at the home may turn these on and forget to shut them off after they leave. You will come back to find the damage that this has caused.

2. Turn off the gas. Call the gas company and have them turn off the natural gas. They will put a tag on the meter indicating that it has been shut down and no one should turn it on. As an extra safety precaution, close the gas valves for each appliance to prevent leaks. These are usually ball valves that are shut off by turning the lever to a perpendicular position on the gas pipe or conduit. Typical appliances in the home that use gas are: the clothes dryer, heating system, water heater, fireplace, and oven and stove.

3. Turn off the electricity. You could make arrangements to have the power completely shut off, or you could just shut the main breaker off. Some inspectors like taking the extra step of turning off individual breakers on all of the panels, but you do not have to go so far. The main concern here is to find loose wires. In a home I had inspected, the range exhaust vent was pulled out with live loose wires hanging down. The owners should have had a wire nut on them and secured them away from someone’s grasp.

4. Turn off the plumbing. During several of my inspections in the past, I’ve found plumbing damage in vacant homes, or just small leaks that were never repaired. Once the water is back on, a continuous leak can do a good deal of damage when left unchecked. Before shutting off the water, check all of the fixtures by running them. Look at the pipes in the cabinets to see if any water leaks. Also run the dishwasher, because a dry seal on a dishwasher can cause a bad leak.

If there are no leaks, you can start draining the water from the system. Turn off the main water valve, which is located at the meter or by a hose bib or in the garage. Open the faucets to let the water flow out. You will want to keep water in the toilet bowl, because this will prevent sewer gases from coming into the home. You will also want water in the P-traps under the sinks, but this will happen when you open the faucets. Not everyone does this (although they should), but I recommend it if you have a tank water heater to drain in liquids from it. The standing water in it can become quite foul if left sitting for a long time.

5. Signage. At each entrance, have a sign indicating that the house has been winterized. You could place signs at various spots around the house, but there are a few places that really need one. Keep people off the toilet seat — and from flushing — by placing tape across the toilet in an x-shape with a winterization note. Leave a note by the electrical panel to indicate that the house is winterized. If the service panel is located on the exterior of the house, lock it with a small padlock. I have seen notes placed by the air conditioning equipment, but if the electrical panel has the note and the gas main has the tag, an inspector will know it has been winterized. The signs should state that the home has been winterized and that utilities such as lights can’t be turned on or that the plumbing can’t be used. It is also a good idea to date them, so an inspector will know when the home was last winterized. Print these signs on durable paper with fade-resistant ink to ensure that they last for a long time.

6. Secure the building. Make sure all windows and doors are locked. I find that people forget the upstairs windows and sometimes the garage. Also, close the blinds so people can’t look into the home.

7. Keeping filters clean and the property clear of garbage. Change the filters for the air conditioning system. Clogged filters force the unit to work harder when started. A general cleaning is always a nice touch, but it can help the home stay unoccupied a little longer. I found remnants of food in one kitchen, which attracted pests. In fact, if you notice areas where squirrels or other rodents have chewed their way into the home in the past, seal them to keep these varmints out.

This is just a basic outline for winterizing your home, but it’s the small steps that will save you the big headaches in the long run.

Frank Schulte-Ladbeck, Professional Real Estate Inspector

Say what you will about the Bank of America acquisition of troubled mortgage giant Countrywide Financial. For some homeowners with defaulting loans, the merger may have been their saving grace. The subprime mortgage crisis launched a major financial blow to Countrywide over the last few years. As a result, Bank of America agreed to buy the struggling company in January, despite widespread knowledge that several states were investigating allegations of predatory and fraudulent lending.

Settlement details
Illinois, California and at least six other states have reached an $8.8 billion settlement of their lawsuits against Countrywide, the biggest subprime mortgage lender in the country. The deal should help some 21,000 Illinois residents keep their homes, according to a Chicago Tribune article published on Monday. As part of the settlement, Countrywide has agreed to halt foreclosure sales and not initiate foreclosure proceedings for customers likely to qualify for the program. The program applies to people who received mortgages from Countrywide before Dec. 31, 2007.

According to the Tribune article, Illinois, California, Iowa, Ohio, Texas, Arizona, Washington and Connecticut had agreed to the Countrywide settlement program by early Sunday evening. North Carolina, West Virginia, Indiana and Michigan were still in settlement talks, a Countrywide spokesman said.

The settlement marks the first mandatory mortgage relief program in the nation. Mortgages will be renegotiated under the program so that monthly payments do not exceed 32 percent of a family’s monthly household income, the newspaper reported.

In some cases, terms of Countrywide mortgages will be changed to reflect the reduced value of homes as a result of the housing crisis. However, in most cases the emphasis will be on reducing monthly payments, said a lawyer involved in the negotiations with Countrywide.

Illinois and other states sued Countrywide in July over allegations the firm intentionally steered people into confusing and risky mortgages they could not afford to pay. Even as home foreclosures mounted, the lawsuits alleged that Countrywide accelerated its aggressive mortgage writing, in part to fill Wall Street’s appetite for mortgage-backed securities.

The lawsuit
The Illinois lawsuit charged that Countrywide offered mortgages with insufficient documentation requirements and with interest-only payments, thus selling mortgages people could not afford. In many instances, loans had teaser interest rates that lasted a brief period and then jumped significantly. Eventually, many borrowers made few or even no payments before the loans went past due and foreclosure proceedings began.

The bulk of the settlement — $8.4 billion — represents the reduction in principal and interest payments for Countrywide customers who hold adjustable-rate and fixed-rate subprime mortgages. In addition, Countrywide expects to waive $56 million in prepayment penalties and $79 million in late fees. The firm will pay $150 million to people already forced out of their homes and another $60 million in relocation costs for people in the process of being evicted from their homes.

To find out if your loans will be impacted by the Countrywide settlement, contact your local state attorney general’s office. California’s Attorney General’s office has provided a helpful FAQ page on their Website regarding the Countrywide settlement.

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.

With the slowdown in home sales here in Chicago and its suburbs, the rental market has improved. There is more demand for rental housing whether it’s single-family houses or townhouses, condominiums or old-fashioned rental units in larger apartment buildings. Add to this fact, many homeowners who can’t sell turn to renting out their property with short-term intentions.

Unfortunately, a sizable percentage of these “landlords by necessity” are not current with their mortgage payments on their investment properties. As a result, these rental properties may be soon be subject to foreclosure and an acquisition by the bank that holds the mortgage lien!

Roughly 40 percent of all foreclosures involve property being rented, according to RealtyTrac. Here in Chicago, the Lawyers’ Committee for Better Housing warns that as many as 2,500 renters and their families may be displaced by a landlord’s foreclosure by the end of 2008.

Keep in mind a tenant’s security deposit might be lost as well, should the foreclosure go through. Here in Illinois, and in many other states, the acquiring bank is not forced to refund the security deposit. However, a newly enacted Illinois law does offer a bit of protection, Kathleen K. Clark, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee, told the Chicago Tribune.

“If the tenant wasn’t named as part of the foreclosure filing and is being taken into eviction court, they must be given 90 days notice,” Clark said. “It’s not a tremendous help, but it does give them confidentially of all court records a little bit of time.”

The new legislation also indicates that court records for a tenant who is evicted because of a landlord's foreclosure be sealed, except to law enforcement and government entities. In order to take advantage of the 90-day notice requirement, the tenants must be current in their rent or have made good-faith efforts to pay. This requirement prevents tenants who find out about their landlord’s impending foreclosure to stop making their rent payments.

Visit DEAN & DEAN’S TEAM CHICAGO at BlogChicagoHomes.com.

One of my favorite things about living in the Midwest is the seasonal changes. As we enter the fall season, I enjoy sitting outside on my porch and watching the trees along my street transform themselves into a carnival of orange, yellow and reddish brown colors. But as the leaves begin to change, so does the temperature.

I’ll tell you one thing, there’s nothing pretty about watching your utility bills go up during the colder months. With energy-costs expected to skyrocket this winter, I’m making a conscious effort to find more efficient ways to reduce my heating bill.

Just last week I was sitting in a meeting with our Homescape sales team, when one of our account executives, Mike Consoli, told me about how much money he has saved since installing a pellet stove in his home. My initial reaction was, “What the heck is a pellet stove?”

Wood pellet stoves
Wood Pellet Stoves are a new and very popular way to provide heat in homes. A pellet stove uses wood pellets as its primary heat source. These wood pellets are tightly compacted and dense, which allows the stove to burn powerfully yet very efficiently. Pellets usually come from the byproduct of sawmills and are very easily transportable due to their small size (about half and inch) and light weight. These days, the prices of stove-burning sources such as fossil fuels, chopped wood, natural gas and electric gas are gradually going up. Wood pellets, on the other hand, are inexpensive and easy to manufacture and cause very little pollution.

Mike lives in North Andover, MA, just outside Boston, in a 1930’s farmhouse that’s just over 3,500 square feet. So as you can imagine with the brutal winters in Boston, it takes a lot to heat his entire home.

Mike tells me that when the first floor in his home is heated the second floor is only “lukewarm.” The way his home is laid out, there’s a separate addition consisting of a large family room on the first floor and large bedroom on second floor. Both rooms have three exterior walls with six windows in each room (which acts as a conduit for cold air).

“I think that the number of windows really made it difficult to keep the rooms warm,” Mike said. “So, knowing that I’m pretty handy — he ran a small construction company for a couple years — I decided that installing a pellet stove would be economical and something I could do myself.”

Mike said he doesn’t have propane gas coming into the house, and wood stoves need much more venting than a pellet stove. In an effort to heat mainly the two rooms he had the pellet stove installed in February 2007. After getting the necessary permits, it only took him a single day to install it.

“The final result is that the two rooms I was concerned with are much warmer, actually too hot sometimes on the first floor. Depending on which doors we keep open or closed, we can heat most of the house, especially at night, with the heat from the stove rising up to the second floor all day long.

The following comparison shows the years, gallons of oil used and actual costs of heating Mike’s home before and after he installed the pellet stove:

Without pellet stove:
• 2005- 2006: 1,500 gallons of oil costing $4,050 = $2.70/gallon

• 2006-2007: 1,200 gallons of oil costing $3,104 = $2.59/gallon

With pellet stove:
• 2007- 2008: 890 gallons of oil costing $3,451 = $3.88/gallon

“Assuming the consumption of 1,500 gallons and having to pay $3.88/gallon last year, I saved over $2,300,” Mike says.

Cost savings
Prices for pellet stoves range from about $1,700 to $3,000 for the stove and from $150 to $400 for installation. When comparing prices of pellet stoves with those of wood stoves, remember that pellet stoves offer a substantial savings. They don't require installation of a full-height conventional chimney or flue, the most costly part of some fireplace and wood stove installations.

How does the cost of pellets compare with the cost of wood? According to Hometips.com, on face value, pellets are more expensive at $130 to $200 per ton, compared with firewood, which runs from $100 to $175 per cord. But comparing a ton to a cord is a bit like comparing a pound to an inch.

It’s better to evaluate usage. Wood stove users burn from 3 to 4 cords of wood per year. An average pellet stove will use from 1 to 3 tons of pellets per year. Figuring in the costs above, pellets are often less expensive than cord wood.

Thanks Mike for your helpful recommendation!

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.

Last year I blogged about a Texas property owner who was selling an entire town on eBay. I guess if Sarah Palin can put the private jet up for sale on the auction site, why then not an entire town?

On Wednesday, my friend sent me an article on another unique sell on eBay. While it’s no grilled cheese sandwich bearing the image of the Virgin Mary (actually not even close), this latest bid is an interesting reflection on our housing market.

With a winning bid of just $1.75, a Chicago woman on Wednesday won an auction on eBay for an abandoned home at 1606 Perkins in Saginaw, MI. Joanne Smith, 30, outbid seven others for the home, The Saginaw News reported. The starting bid was 5 cents.

Deal or no deal
Smith isn’t exactly walking away with a value-meal of a deal. She still has to pay back taxes and a trash/weed clean-up that will set the final price tag at around $850, according to The Saginaw News. If the fee isn’t paid, the city will foreclose on the property. It’s also important to point out that this home isn’t some quaint little bungalow with a white picket fence. The property in its present state appears pretty unlivable. It’s nestled on a lot of overgrown weeds and grass, and the back yard is cluttered with mounting wood debris. The home has siding dangling from its facade, a dilapidated roof and major rust on the exterior of the building.

Smith told the newspaper that she’s never visited Saginaw and will most likely sell the blighted property. Her selling price has not yet been disclosed.

A reflection of trying times
The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center, but in recent years has suffered from population decline, job losses and increased crime rates. As a result, the housing market in the area has been hit by foreclosures and home value depreciation. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 61,799. The 2007 census estimate places the population at 56,263.

The latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index report released this week shows that prices of existing single-family homes continue their double-digit decline in many cities across the United States. In July, the average home prices in 20 major metro areas fell 16.3 percent from a year ago. Detroit suffered a 16.7 percent drop in home prices, according to the report.

My only advice to the new owner of the abandoned home: Make sure you evict the squirrels, skunks, possums and any other varmints squatting on the property before your first open house.

View photos of the abandoned Saginaw, MI, home.

Got hot local housing tips or a story you want to share? Contact Amy Le at openingdoorsblog@homescape.com.

Categtory:Home Owning