Building repairs don't pay off for owner
Law of the Land

Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News

In 2003, Kristine Hennessy noticed that the stucco on her property, a commercial building, had separated from the building's wall. In 2005, the remaining stucco on the building had virtually no adhesion remaining to the building's concrete walls, except on the 20 percent of the building where the underlying wall was concrete masonry blocks. Hennessy removed and replaced the damaged stucco and filed a claim with the insurance company, Mutual of Enumclaw, which later denied the claim.

In the trial of Hennessy v. Mutual of Enumclaw, a judgment was entered for Hennessy, awarding her more than $98,000 for the costs of removing the stucco and installing a new exterior.

The appeals court affirmed the trial court's judgment, but only up to the $2,469 in damages that was incurred by the 2003 stucco replacement. The terms of Hennessy's insurance policy excluded loss or damage due to collapse except in cases where the owner could prove "(1) a specified condition, such as hidden decay, (2) caused 'collapse' of a building or part of a building, and (3) the collapse resulted in direct physical loss or damage to covered property."

Because the policy itself failed to define what constitutes a "collapse," the court applied the plain, dictionary definitions of the word and found that the stucco descended or dropped involuntarily and under the force of gravity in 2003, and was not required to completely and totally fall down. Accordingly, the 2003 stucco damage was covered under the insurance policy.

However, in 2005, while Hennessy and the insurer agreed that removal and replacement of the remaining stucco on the building was prudent, due to the underlying decay and separation from the building's walls, the stucco had not yet "moved or fallen." Accordingly, Hennessy had presented no evidence to show that the damage was caused by collapse, the appeals court found, and the trial court had erred in awarding the remaining damages.

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook" and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions." Ask her a real estate question online or visit her Web site, www.rethinkrealestate.com.

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Empty house may cost more to insure
Sellers get surprise as home languishes on market

Tom Kelly
Inman News

Homebuyers are finding tougher guidelines and higher premiums from insurance carriers, and there certainly aren't any bargains for sellers who need to move or would simply like a change of scenery.

In a recent case, owners decided to sell a three-bedroom, three-bath primary residence and move into a nearby rental property they owned that better fit their needs. The primary residence, on a gorgeous acre with wonderful landscaping and a couple of ponds, demanded more time and maintenance than the owners had to give.

"We put it on the market in February and the place still hasn't sold," said Pat Hanrahan, who admits not all families are devoted gardeners with the time and interest to maintain such a place. "We were just going to continue to leave it vacant and try to sell it, until we found out how much it would cost to insure the place."

The Hanrahans had an excellent relationship with their insurance carrier and had a flawless history with the two homes, two cars and a boat. However, because the primary residence was now unoccupied, vacant and for sale, the insurance premium had jumped to nearly eight times the normal rate.

"The premium for the previous year was $528, and the least expensive insurance that we could (find) once it was vacant was $4,000 a year," Pat said. "I couldn't believe it, but a friend told me he had the same experience with a home in his family."

Insurance companies simply do not want to deal with unoccupied, vacant and for-sale homes. Their history charts show that these places stand a much greater risk of vandalism than an occupied home, and problems occur that are created by neglect. A slow leak in a cold, unoccupied home has a greater chance of resulting in burst pipes and subsequent dry rot than in a home that's lived in every day.

So, what's the insurance grace period when selling a home? If an employee is forced to relocate with little notice, put his wife, family and belongings in a moving van and go, how long will the vacant home be covered? Many insurance companies will give 60 days for a transitional "vacant" period as long as the premiums are paid. (Some states require that insurance carriers give 45 days' notice when coverage is canceled midterm. A 30-day advance is generally given for renewal notices, but companies often allow 60 days to make up for mail time and weekends.)

According to a cursory survey of insurance agents, coverage on homes, apartments and condominiums has not returned significant profits to the insurance industry for the past 20 years. Claims that have been paid for earthquake, hurricanes, flood and fires in the western United States really have taken their toll.

Some traditional, major carriers have even adopted a moratorium on "substandard" or higher-risk insurance. Unoccupied, vacant and for-sale homes have slid into this category. Special niche companies that continue to write substandard policies often impose a monthly quota on the number of cases they will consider.

Why are insurance premiums so high? Insurance agents and carriers point to the numbers -- claims filed involving mold, lead-based paint, asbestos, radon and urea formaldehyde are up significantly. While all of these environmental hazards have caused terrible losses, other industry costs -- all passed on to the consumer -- involve cases compounded by expensive legal proceedings where neither side receives any real benefit.

For example, a recent case involved a renter who died in a house fire. The fire marshal determined the cause of the fire was the renter's smoking in bed. The renter's family filed suit against the seller's $500,000 liability policy, claiming the smoke alarms were not working properly.

The Hanrahans had heard all the reasons for skyrocketing coverages, but they still couldn't believe the cost to insure the home they still wanted to sell.

"I even thought of moving some furniture back in and bringing in my sleeping bag," Hanrahan said. "But we decided to get a renter and give him a greatly reduced price. He'll have his stuff in there and make sure the real estate agents have access to show it."

The Hanrahans said that the renters won't have to pay market rent and they'll save a ton on the insurance premiums because it's occupied.

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'Bubbling' drywall be gone
5 steps to restoring surface

Bill and Kevin Burnett
Inman News

Q: I used hot water to remove old wallpaper in a bedroom, which caused "bubbling" or blistering of the drywall. Apparently, I used too much moisture and seem to have lifted the texture on the drywall. Do I scrape it and apply new texture and if so, what is the best method? It is affecting only parts of two walls in the bedroom and would not involve the whole walls, just areas. What is the best method to go about this?

A: Making holes in walls while removing wallpaper is part of the job. Getting the wallpaper off is only the beginning, as you're about to find out. You're right; wetting the walls caused the bubbling. The paper "skin" of the drywall became saturated and released from the gypsum core. The fix will take some work, but it's relatively simple.

Before even thinking about tackling the bubbles, make sure the wallpaper paste residue is off the walls. A good sponge-washing with TSP (trisodium phosphate) will take care of this. For stubborn particles use a Scotch-Brite pad. Mix the TSP with water according to package directions. Use a sponge to wash the walls and remove the paste residue. Once the paste is all off, rinse the wall with clean water.

Scrape off the bubbles with a 4-inch drywall knife. Try not to gouge the walls, but make sure to get all the loose material off. Then it's time to patch.

We like to use a fast-setting joint compound like Durabond 45. It allows you to work at a steady pace but doesn't hold up progress waiting for the mud to dry. Durabond 45 is a powder that is mixed with water and sets hard in about 45 minutes. Mix only enough material that you can comfortably apply in 15 to 20 minutes. Any more time and the mud starts to harden and is tough to work. Patch the holes using a 4-inch drywall knife. Smooth it as best you can, but don't work it too much. Sand the patches smooth between coats with 150-grit sandpaper. It will probably take a couple of coats to complete the job. With the wall sanded smooth, it's ready for the finish of your choice: smooth wall; texture; or more wallpaper.

Q: Your column about removing vintage wallpaper was great -- very detailed and specific. I have a different wallpaper question. One of our bathrooms has painted walls (latex enamel) with quite a bit of texture. I would like to wallpaper that room using striped paper and I think that would look messy over textured walls. What should I do?

A: Do not paper over the texture. The walls will look like they have bad case of acne. The answer is to make the bumpy walls flat by applying a skim coat of joint compound over the entire wall. The good news is that it's definitely a do-it-yourself job and not that tough to do.

It brings up a blast from our past. When Mom was newly widowed, she moved from the family home to a condo. We've mentioned from time to time that our dad was a master plasterer. All the walls in that house were smooth plaster of the highest quality. Many of the walls were wallpapered. Mom wanted wallpaper on the textured walls in her bedroom. She hired a local painting contractor to come in and skim coat over the texture to smooth out the walls. He then primed the wall, sized it and wallpapered. We didn't care much for her paper selection, but he did a good job. It looked good and it lasted.

The first step is to lightly sand the wall to cut down the gloss of the paint and provide some "tooth" to the surface. Skim coating is pretty easy. Use regular premixed joint compound. Thin it with water until it's the consistency of honey. It will spread smoothly and easily. Apply the joint compound over the entire wall with a broad knife -- 8 inches or more. Let it dry and sand it with 150-grit sandpaper. Repeat the process. It will probably take three coats of mud to get the wall perfectly smooth and ready for primer and wallpaper.

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'Think outside the hammock'
Book Review: 'Nextville: Amazing Places to Live Your Life'

Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News

Book Review
Title: 'Nextville: Amazing Places to Live Your Life'
Author: Barbara Corcoran
Publisher: Springboard Press, 2008; 272 pages; $24.95 list ($18.24 on Amazon.com)

As one of the few other real estate broker/writers on the scene, I've consumed much of what Barbara Corcoran has written since I laid eyes on the mere title of her first book, "If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails" (Portfolio Trade, 2003), full of the homespun wisdom she used to create one of the country's most profitable real estate firms (located, counterintuitively perhaps, in New York City).

Years before she became the "Today" show's resident real estate guru, Corcoran grew to believe that the "real measure of (her) success … was (her) innate ability to match up the right person with the right place based on his or her unique needs and personality."

While I can think of a dozen other matrices on which she's batting 1000, if Corcoran sees her people-with-place matchmaking skills as her true "raison d'etre" (French for "reason for existence"), she has outdone herself with her latest book, "Nextville: Amazing Places to Live Your Life."

"Nextville" is truly a next-generation guide for what we used to call "retirees" -- the folks Corcoran recasts, by contrast, as people graduating to the next phase and place of their lives -- to figure out how they want to live going forward and, then, how to find the city or town that provides the perfect backdrop for that desired lifestyle.

What stands out instantly about this book, as opposed to other real estate materials for boomers and beyond, is the lack of "cheeseballishness," for lack of a better term, and the respect for the Internet skills, investment savvy and diverse lifestyles that "graduates" possess.

Corcoran's premise is that because a down market, like the current market, is the best time to buy real estate, this is the perfect time for those looking to retire or otherwise change their lifestyles to prepare by cultivating clarity on their life vision going forward and then taking advantage of great real estate prices now, even if the plan is to move in a number of years.

As such, Corcoran goes on to offer a lifestyle quiz to help readers figure out their lifestyle priorities, relevant to selecting a place to live "happily ever after" -- the queries ferret out whether the reader's next life step will focus on pursuing passions, living green, living young, reinvention ("losing yourself"), finding your purpose, or several other values that resonate with the dreams voiced by my 50-and-older clients, friends, relatives and colleagues. Refreshingly, Corcoran does not at all assume that the singular purpose of all retirees-to-be is to take it easy; rather, the opposite, she advises readers to "think outside the hammock."

Then, Corcoran goes on to provide real estate and investment advice for her "graduate readers" that are likely to make for both sound investment and sound lifestyle design decision-making, with nuggets like "don't buy in an area filled with old people."

In the remainder of the book, Corcoran details her research on various cities (and even foreign countries) that she argues provide an affordable backdrop for various lifestyles. And I mean details.

From "A Great Place to Open A Bed-and-Breakfast (But They Won't Let You Open A McDonald's)" -- Saugatuck, Mich. -- to great communities for 50-and-older gays and lesbians (Santa Fe, N.M.), to great green communities and places to live young, nationwide by region, I found it amazing that Corcoran could cover such a broad range of places and interests in such a relatively quick and fun read.

And, FYI, the back of the book is complete with tables and appendices that organize the cities and countries by region, and include vital statistics such as weather and home-price data.

Finally and helpfully, Corcoran concludes "Nextville" with characteristically witty and thought-provoking questions and rules to launch the action-ready reader into the quest for their own personal "Nextville."

Though it is designed primarily for mature people ready to find the geography and real estate environs for their retirement, I found "Nextville" to be an entertaining, energetic and energy-inspiring entrée for anyone of any age who is looking to realize lifestyle transformation in their next phase of life.

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook" and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions." Ask her a real estate question online or visit her Web site, www.rethinkrealestate.com.

***

What's your opinion? Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor. To contact the writer, click the byline at the top of the story.

'Think outside the hammock'
Book Review: 'Nextville: Amazing Places to Live Your Life'

Tara-Nicholle Nelson
Inman News

Book Review
Title: 'Nextville: Amazing Places to Live Your Life'
Author: Barbara Corcoran
Publisher: Springboard Press, 2008; 272 pages; $24.95 list ($18.24 on Amazon.com)

As one of the few other real estate broker/writers on the scene, I've consumed much of what Barbara Corcoran has written since I laid eyes on the mere title of her first book, "If You Don't Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails" (Portfolio Trade, 2003), full of the homespun wisdom she used to create one of the country's most profitable real estate firms (located, counterintuitively perhaps, in New York City).

Years before she became the "Today" show's resident real estate guru, Corcoran grew to believe that the "real measure of (her) success … was (her) innate ability to match up the right person with the right place based on his or her unique needs and personality."

While I can think of a dozen other matrices on which she's batting 1000, if Corcoran sees her people-with-place matchmaking skills as her true "raison d'etre" (French for "reason for existence"), she has outdone herself with her latest book, "Nextville: Amazing Places to Live Your Life."

"Nextville" is truly a next-generation guide for what we used to call "retirees" -- the folks Corcoran recasts, by contrast, as people graduating to the next phase and place of their lives -- to figure out how they want to live going forward and, then, how to find the city or town that provides the perfect backdrop for that desired lifestyle.

What stands out instantly about this book, as opposed to other real estate materials for boomers and beyond, is the lack of "cheeseballishness," for lack of a better term, and the respect for the Internet skills, investment savvy and diverse lifestyles that "graduates" possess.

Corcoran's premise is that because a down market, like the current market, is the best time to buy real estate, this is the perfect time for those looking to retire or otherwise change their lifestyles to prepare by cultivating clarity on their life vision going forward and then taking advantage of great real estate prices now, even if the plan is to move in a number of years.

As such, Corcoran goes on to offer a lifestyle quiz to help readers figure out their lifestyle priorities, relevant to selecting a place to live "happily ever after" -- the queries ferret out whether the reader's next life step will focus on pursuing passions, living green, living young, reinvention ("losing yourself"), finding your purpose, or several other values that resonate with the dreams voiced by my 50-and-older clients, friends, relatives and colleagues. Refreshingly, Corcoran does not at all assume that the singular purpose of all retirees-to-be is to take it easy; rather, the opposite, she advises readers to "think outside the hammock."

Then, Corcoran goes on to provide real estate and investment advice for her "graduate readers" that are likely to make for both sound investment and sound lifestyle design decision-making, with nuggets like "don't buy in an area filled with old people."

In the remainder of the book, Corcoran details her research on various cities (and even foreign countries) that she argues provide an affordable backdrop for various lifestyles. And I mean details.

From "A Great Place to Open A Bed-and-Breakfast (But They Won't Let You Open A McDonald's)" -- Saugatuck, Mich. -- to great communities for 50-and-older gays and lesbians (Santa Fe, N.M.), to great green communities and places to live young, nationwide by region, I found it amazing that Corcoran could cover such a broad range of places and interests in such a relatively quick and fun read.

And, FYI, the back of the book is complete with tables and appendices that organize the cities and countries by region, and include vital statistics such as weather and home-price data.

Finally and helpfully, Corcoran concludes "Nextville" with characteristically witty and thought-provoking questions and rules to launch the action-ready reader into the quest for their own personal "Nextville."

Though it is designed primarily for mature people ready to find the geography and real estate environs for their retirement, I found "Nextville" to be an entertaining, energetic and energy-inspiring entrée for anyone of any age who is looking to realize lifestyle transformation in their next phase of life.

Tara-Nicholle Nelson is author of "The Savvy Woman's Homebuying Handbook" and "Trillion Dollar Women: Use Your Power to Make Buying and Remodeling Decisions." Ask her a real estate question online or visit her Web site, www.rethinkrealestate.com.

***

What's your opinion? Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor. To contact the writer, click the byline at the top of the story.