Home

Oscillating tools: many choices, uses

By Paul Bianchina, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

One of the most interesting tools currently on the market is what's known generically as an "oscillating tool." The first, and for a long time the only, one on the market was the Fein MultiMaster. As its patent expired, other companies have introduced competing tools with different pros, cons and prices.

A tool for all reasons

So what exactly is an oscillating tool, and how does it differ from other cutting and sanding tools on the market? As the name implies, these tools utilize cutting attachments that oscillate rapidly from side to side, as opposed to rotating like a circular saw, or moving out and back like a jig saw or reciprocating saw. It's this oscillation that sets the tool apart. And while it won't replace your circular saw or your favorite pad sander, it's a unique tool that's extremely handy for a number of do-it-yourself projects all around the house.  more...

New home inventory dwindles

By Inman News, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

Sales of newly-constructed single-family homes rose 6.2 percent from September to October, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 430,000, the Census Bureau said today.

At that pace of sales -- a 5.1 percent increase from a year ago -- the 239,000 new homes on the market represented 6.7 months of supply, down from 7.4 months in September and 11.1 months a year ago. Analysts generally consider a 6-month supply of homes an even balance between supply and demand.  more...

Agent ratings, from 'A' to 'Why?' Premium Content

By Kris Berg, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/schestok/414196453/sizes/l/">mathface</a>.

Based on any reasonable accounting method, I am what you would call a good driver. In fact, according to public records, I am not just good -- I am awesome!

Check the Carfax of my last five chariots, and you will find nary a blemish on my record. In 34 years of navigating my way from here to there and back, I have been in just one moving collision, involving a time-pressed commuter who, believing the hype about the shortest distance between two points, decided to pass me by driving over me.  more...

Mortgage rates at record lows

By Inman News, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

Mortgage rates eased for the fourth consecutive week, hitting historic lows well below 5 percent this week, Freddie Mac said in releasing the results of its latest Primary Mortgage Market Survey.

Rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.78 percent with an average 0.7 point for the week ending Nov. 25, down from 4.83 percent last week and 5.97 percent a year ago.  more...

Saddled with a foundation problem

By Bill and Kevin Burnett, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

Q: My question regards the best way to stabilize the perimeter foundation on my 1872 farmhouse. The "concrete" surface is turning to dust in places where the harder finish coat has been chipped or broken away. I know the core of the continuous perimeter foundation is good and hard, because I've drilled into it when I bolted the house down and shear-paneled the cripples.

Small gaps are appearing between the mudsill and the concrete and my thought is to stuff in some oakum strands before applying the concrete finish.  more...

Seniors: it's OK to think in reverse

By Tom Kelly, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.

"You won't really know unless you ask."

The popular phrase has been used often in many households -- especially when kids seek an answer for being left off a team, when wage earners wonder about a possible salary increase, or if carpool drivers can shift to a different day.  more...

Flexing live/work spaces

By Mary Umberger, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.
Flickr photo by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chainsawpanda/32900503/">faster panda kill kill</a>.

Christopher Eley says he routinely puts in 15-hour days at the gourmet meat market he has owned for two years. At the end of a day like that, the last thing the Indianapolis businessman wants to do is face a long drive home. And so he doesn't.

Instead, Eley secures the doors to his shop, called Goose, the Market, and treads upstairs to the 2,000-square-foot flat he owns.  more...

Whose brand is it, anyway? Premium Content

By Robert Hahn, Wednesday, November 25, 2009.
Flickr image by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/rstinnett/607564955/">robertstinnett</a>.

The thing to keep in mind about Realtors Property Resource is ... what's that? We're not talking about RPR yet again? Oh good, I was hoping to let that topic rest for a few days ...

Instead, let's talk about a topic of interest to you -- well, to at least one of you: Kathleen Buckley, a broker from Hopkinton, Mass., who incidentally is the only person I've ever seen with a Casey Kasem quote on her Web site's home page, responded to my call for topics with a tweet suggesting "personal branding: to what extent should agents be branding themselves in addition to/rather than their broker?"An appropriate topic indeed, given trends in the industry.

Let's start with some video:

   more...