The home improvement and remodeling industry will be the darling of the housing sector in 2010. The plunge by the housing sector took the home improvement industry with it as it fell more than 30 percent from its peak in 2007. It looks like the home improvement industry will bottom in the first quarter of 2010 and then rise from there.
via Seeking Alpha.
[But what about the affects of the EPA Renovator Rules?]
And like many investors he knows the simple wholesale/rehab formula which is to buy a house at 65% of the after repair value and then subtract the repairs, etc.
However, if that’s where you stop, you’re in big trouble and you might not stay in this business very long.
via Bigger Pockets
Improbable as it sounds, house flipping—that hallmark of American real estate mania—is making a comeback. All around the country, but especially in some of the regions hit hardest by the housing slump, investors are swooping in on distressed properties and banging them into shape for sale to first-time home buyers, vacation-home seekers, and people looking for rental income.
via BusinessWeek.
“The letter reports that EPA currently has only 135 accredited trainers and 13,669 certified renovators nationwide, although its own estimates indicate that it needs at least 200,000 or more certified renovators. “Obviously, these numbers are far too insufficient for the millions of renovations carried out annually, even without a substantial retrofit incentive program like Home Star,”
via Window & Door.
Plumbers, carpenters, heating and air-conditioning workers, window installers and others across the country are rushing to try to get certified in time.
And he said the fines for working without certification are pretty stiff: $30,500 per day, per project.
President Obama’s Homestar program – nicknamed “cash for caulkers” - could get derailed before it even gets off the ground because of a new EPA renovator rules
Hell Is Like Newark: I took the certification course for the new EPA rules last week. I figured it will add about $1500 to $2000 in costs to a typical suburban home when I upgrade the insulation in a home.
“Remodelers are pounding the pavement to find work and stay open, including taking on smaller jobs and competing with unqualified contractors.”
via RISMedia.
