Mortgage Protection Insurance

In the past I’ve discussed the importance of life insurance, and how it could help protect your family’s assets when you are no longer here. This type of policy works for many people, but what if you only want to make sure that your biggest liability- your home- is paid off should you die?

In that situation, you may want to take a look at mortgage protection insurance. It covers only the remaining balance on your mortgage when you die, but it also is typically cheaper than a more-encompassing life insurance policy. Many of these policies have some or all the following features: no medical exam, accelerated payments if you have a terminal illness, lump sum or monthly payouts, and a refund of all the money you paid into the policy if it expires before you do. If you can get it, I find that refund feature to be of great value, as I certainly wouldn’t want to pay on something and get no return on it in the end.

I look at all types of insurance as affording a peace of mind. I’m a worrier by nature, so it’s something I’d feel naked without. If you’re currently without insurance or think your current policies might be inadequate, I’d suggest at least getting a few quotes to see if the expense is worth the benefits you’ll receive.

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This post was sponsored by NAA Life

Life Expectancy of Home Components

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving went well.

I just found this handy 19-page guide that details the life expectancy of various home systems and features. It was created by the NAHB with funding from Bank of America, and it is very encompassing. I didn't come across any real surprises, but this is a nice guide to have if you're vacillating between fixing something or just replacing it. Have a read, and save it for future reference.

Home Value Update

Amidst reports that home prices are continuing their record plunge, I became curious to see what my house is currently valued at according to a few online estimates. Briefly, I bought it in January 2007 and it was a fixer-upper that I’ve since done a lot of improvements to. You can go here for more background on my house. Here are the percentage changes since I bought it:

• Zillow: +12%
• Cyberhomes: -8.4%
• Eppraisal: 0%
• Real Estate.com: -4%

Not very conclusive! I’d never expect an online tool to be very precise, but I did hope that the estimates would be somewhat closer to each other. I think that the Zillow estimate is actually the closest to reality, and not because it gave me the highest percentage (or because it has the most interactive and detailed site). I like Zillow’s estimate because it is the only tool that allows me to enter info about my home, meaning that it takes into account the improvements I’ve made since I purchased it (the value you give your improvements is subject to Remodeling Magazine’s Cost vs. Value recalibration, but you can override it if you wish). A few months ago, a similar house down the street sold for a 7% increase of my purchase price. My house has a new kitchen and bigger yard, but they have an extra half-bath and bigger basement. I’m calling that a wash, and so I think I could get roughly the same price as those owners did.

So if I think that to be the case, why did the others give me a decrease down to 8.4%? Take a look at the image from Zillow. This shows the period from my purchase to the current, and blue is USA, light green is my zip code, and dark green is my house (why it says I’m at 5% baffles me, because if I change the chart to dollar amounts, the percentage is the aforementioned 12%). You can see that the decreases in my zip code and the country overall are roughly the same. But that kind of decrease really isn’t true in my neighborhood. My town shares a zip code with another town that is all over the place in terms of values- from million dollar homes to rentals that are in disrepair. I assume the overall zip code might be dragging my estimate down.

I’m curious to know if anyone else puts much credence into these type of tools or if anyone uses any other method of valuation.

Permits: necessary evil?

Though standards vary in each municipality, I can say with near certainty that almost any renovation you do to your house probably requires one or more permits with your local government. Permits are required for the following reasons:

• towns want to make sure you are not breaking any zoning laws that can lead to problems in the future
• towns want to be able to make sure that you are doing quality work so that things are safe and house values remain constant or increase (which also protects homeowners from poor workmanship from contractors)
• towns want to reassess your taxable value so they can make more tax revenue
• towns want to generate fee income from inspections and paperwork that comes along with permits

I can't find any definitive nationwide stats, but a couple of sources I've found claim that between 60% and 70% of all work done on homes is not permitted, but should have been. Since I've owned my home, I've always gotten permits when the law required it (I think). I've always gone the official route not because I love to increase my taxes or because I like to fill out paperwork, but because I'm neurotic and can't sleep at night with the worry a neighbor will call the town or problems will arise when I go to sell the house. When I had my furnace and AC replaced, I needed three separate permits, and I suppose I feel a little better knowing it was certified by the town as installed correctly, but was it worth the $75 annual increase to my tax bill? I don't think so.

So, is there really much incentive to pull those permits? I think it depends on your level of comfort with a number of things, including

• your confidence in yourself or contractor to do a proper job
• your faith that neighbors won't report unpermitted activities they might see
• your ability to not let your conscience or worry-wart tendencies to get the best of you

Without incriminating yourselves, does anyone have any comments or experiences on this topic?

Would Converting to Solar Save You Money?

I found a detailed calculator from that estimates the cost of installation for residential solar panels, as well as providing your estimated energy savings (both monetarily and environmentally). From this, you can calculate your breakeven point- according to this, mine would be about 30 years. Since I don't think I'll be in this house for 30 more years, converting to solar at this point is not a great option. Check it out for yourself, the results might surprise you.

I hope in the future these costs are able to come down, or better yet, our current energy providers will make the switch to renewable resources and spread some of the startup costs to all consumers, so that it becomes more affordable. My electricity utility allows me to pay a little extra each month to tap into renewable resources, but few consumers take advantage of the option.

The calculator is provided by Gridpoint, Inc., a company that installs and designs residential, commercial, and municipal renweable energy systems. They're able to do some interesting things with tracking the use of energy, and a few towns have used them extensively.

A Word About Site Sponsorships

In the interests of full disclosure, I just wanted to let everyone know my stance on advertising on this site. The following are the only places where you will see paid ads from sponsors:

• the (quite obvious) ads on the side and bottom of the pages
• the sites under Useful Links
• any blog post that is followed by something to the effect of this post was brought to you by...

Anything else on this site is purely my own opinion, so if I recommend something and it's not followed by some type of disclosure, rest assured I'm recommending because I truly feel it's a good product/service/whatever. Below is my official disclosure:

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me or my associates. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

This blog abides by word of mouth marketing standards. We believe in honesty of relationship, opinion and identity. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post will be clearly identified as paid or sponsored content.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.

To get your own policy, go to http://www.disclosurepolicy.

Remodeling Market Index Plunges

The National Association of Homebuilders keeps track of the Remodeling Market Index (RMI), which tracks professional remodeler's perception of the current and future markets.

Last quarter, the RMI for the current period dropped to a record low 33.5, with anything less than 50 meaning the outlook is worse than the previous period. For projects costing over $25,000, the RMI is even lower- 23. For more details on the RMI's history, inspect the chart in this post or check out NAHB's site.

So what does this mean for us thrifty homeowners? I don't think it should stop us from doing the sensible projects we want to do, and it may even lead to better prices from contractors. Let's use it to our advantage to gain an upperhand when negotiating.

Focus Earth on Planet Green

I don't know how I've missed it since its debut in July, but I just started watching Focus Earth on Planet Green. If you get Planet Green and you have an interest in environmental issues, you really should watch this show. It's the only weekly newscast about the environemnet, and they often have stories about how you can make your home more efficient (thus making you more thrifty).

New Carnival of Home Improvement!

I'm sure you've seen this type of thing at other blogs you visit- a weekly compendium of posts from other bloggers (why it's called a "carnival" is beyond me, but I have neither the power nor passion to try to change the lingo). Since I couldn't find one about home improvement, I created my own. I welcome you to submit your relevant links. Search for the Carnival of Home Improvement. I specifically want to see posts that relate to saving money, so try to submit those. I hope to publish this every week.

Attic Insulation

One of the projects on my to-do list is insulating my attic. From what I read, an uninsulated or poorly insulated attic can cost you around 30% on your heating and cooling bills. Before I can seriously consider reinsulating, I'll first have to organzie all the items in the attic, as well as secure some floorboards, but I thought I'd briefly take a look at the two main types of insulation: loose-fill and blanket.

Blanket typically comes in the form we've all accustomed to: those large, pinkish colored segments. By using this method, the homeowner can typically complete an insulation job by himself for little money. Most blanket materials are made of fiberglass, which is made from a variety of other materials.

Loose-fill is blown in with a mchine, which would require hiring a professional. This method is also more expensive, but has the added benefits of being more effective (more easily conforms to areas) and environmentally friendly, as much of the loose-fill used today is made up of recycled paper (check with your provider).

The Department of Energy has good introductory info about attic insulation that I recommend reading up on. I'll keep you posted as to how my project progresses.

Solar Lights Installed

To continue my driveway renovation, I installed a set of sensor-activated solar lights to illuminate its darkest portion. The install was easy, and it looks pretty decent (if you can get over the extra wires).

It only cost me $30 and I'll never have to pay for its energy use, so I thought it was a good buy. But, I have a couple of gripes: the sensor could be more sensitive, and the lights could be brighter. I should have realized that the lights would not be very powerful, as each light has only 3 LEDs in them. I have another set I had planned on installing in my backyard, too. I may actually see if it can be returned so I can find a different solar light option.

Has anyone else successfully used solar lights? I have a couple others in other areas of my backyard, and I'm not very pleased with their light output. I guess that's just the nature of the product.

Shopping Aggregation Site

I thought you might be interested in knowing about a site I visit before I make most purchases related to my home, ShopWiki. They basically troll the internet for sites that sell things, categorize them, and then present them in an easy to use interface. I like that no matter how big or small the retailer is, they can get their products listed here, with absolutely no cost to them. It's nice to see a level playing field.

In the past, I've bought a few home accessories from sites I've found on there, and I'm in the process of searching for bedding and lighting (I know, exciting). Even if you don't plan on buying online, it's worth a quick perusal so you know what to expect when are out in the marketplace.

Lawn Care Costs

For those of us who have lawns, I'm sure we've all at one time or another thought about how nice it would be to not have to mow every week. According to a couple of sources, the average cost for an average sized home to have its lawn cut and simply lanscaped is about $30-$40 per week. So for about $150 a month, I'd have little outside work to do when the weather is nice.

If I actually did a throrough analysis that took into account the costs I've had for equipment and the value of my time, that $150 a month would probably look like a pretty decent deal. But personally, I live in the suburbs and have a lawn because I like to be outdoors when the weather is nice, and I don't mind getting a little exercise outside. And I'd much rather save that $150 for another project.

I'm curious to know anyone ele's thoughts on this topic.

EnergyStar's Tools & Tips

As we all try our best to increase the value of our homes and cut down on associated expenses, I thought you might be interested in taking a look at EnergyStar's Home Improvement tools and tips. Here you can analyze your home's efficiency (helps greatly if you have 12 month's worth of bills) and then get ideas as to how you can increase it. They also have a link to 2009 tax credits to help you plan your projects for the upcoming year.

Let us know if this site led to you modifying your habits or anything in your home. Becoming more effiecient helps not only your finances, but also our planet.

Has Your Home's Lower Value Affected Your Spending?

CNNMoney.com has an interesting article about how 20% of people with mortgages now owe more than their home is worth. Some states are more affected than others: in Nevada, nearly 50% of mortgages are upside-down. These are astonishing figures that mean foreclosures will continue to rise and people will be stuck in homes longer than they expected (though my home is still worth more than my mortgage balance, I’m probably in the latter camp as well).

So how does this affect your home improvement plans? Vote in the poll on the right! I know it has affected mine- I’d love to add a front porch, but I’m not going to seriously consider it until house values begin to rise. But you also can’t put off necessary repairs as the neglect could cause your home’s value to go even lower, and you should also not ignore quick or cheap improvements that could immediately return a large percentage of your investment.

Looking for Furniture

For some people, shopping for furniture might be fun. For me, it's more of a chore. To make things easier on myself, I decided to start my search online, and I wanted to let you know about a particularly helpful site I found- eroomservice.com

My wife wanted to look at contemporary furniture, while my tastes lean more towards European furniture. So it looked like even shopping online was not going to be easy. But by looking at the site, we discovered some modern furniture that we both actually liked quite a bit. We did some more research, and we now have an idea of what we are looking to purchase. They also have a cool room planning tool that was helpful.

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brought to you by your friends at eroomservice.com