If you have some doors around your house that aren’t working quite right, don’t despair. There are a number of quick and easy fixes that will take care of whatever’s sticking, squeaking, swinging or otherwise ailing your doors.

The door binds in the upper corner of the jamb: This is a common complaint, since the weight of the door wants to pull it down at an angle from the top corner, opposite the upper hinge. This causes the door to bind against the jamb in that corner. To fix it, remove one or two of the screws that hold the hinge to the jamb.

Replace these screws with new ones that are long enough to reach all the way through the jamb and into the stud behind the jamb; predrill new pilot holes through the existing holes in the jamb to make it easier to drive the screws.

These new, longer screws will pull the jamb back up against the stud and take the angle out of the door frame, relieving that pinch point in the corner.

The door binds against other parts of the jamb: First of all, ask yourself when this started happening. Is it only in the winter? If so, it’s probably due to seasonal swelling, which happens when the wood absorbs moisture from the air.

Check to see if the door is being directly exposed to moisture, such as a drip from a leaky gutter, or perhaps it’s constantly shaded by overhanging trees and rarely dries. If you can identify the cause of the seasonal moisture, correct it.

Be careful about planing a door during the winter: When it dries out again, it’ll be undersized for the opening.

If the binding isn’t seasonal, look for stress cracks in the drywall or moldings around the door. This can indicate settling issues, which may be caused by shifts in the home’s foundation, or simple drying of the wood framing, especially in newer homes.

If the settling doesn’t continue and the binding doesn’t worsen, you can relieve the bound area by tapping against the frame with a hammer and a block of wood, or by removing the door from its hinges and planing it a little. If the settling is worsening, consult with a contractor or structural engineer.

Door won’t stay latched: If the door won’t stay latched, or if it needs to be pushed hard to get it to latch into the strike plate, first look at the way the door is fitting in the jamb. If you see that it appears to be leaning down at the upper corner, try installing longer screws as described above.

Otherwise, it’s a matter of readjusting the strike plate. Site the latch to see where it’s hitting the strike plate, to try to determine if the plate needs to move up or down. If necessary, try coating the latch with lipstick or crayon and then closing the door — the resulting marks on the strike plate will help indicate where it’s hitting.

If only a small adjustment is needed, try grinding the opening in the strike plate to make it larger as needed. Use a small file or a rotary tool with a metal grinding bit. If a larger adjustment is needed, unscrew and remove the strike plate, then reposition it on the jamb and reinstall it. You may need to chisel the jamb slightly to accept the plate in its new position.

Screws are coming out: If the screws that hold the hinges are coming out of the jamb, or you’ve had to reposition the strike plate and the screws want to go back into the old holes, you need to create new wood for the screws to grab into. This is easily done by drilling out the old screw holes to the size of a standard hardwood dowel, typically 3/8 inch. Apply glue to the dowel, insert it into the hole, allow it to dry, then cut it off flush with the surrounding surface. Drill a new pilot hole into the dowel, and reinsert the screws.

Door swings and won’t stay open: This is caused by a door that’s out of plumb in its opening. To correct it, you need to insert a small amount of shim between the back of the hinge and the door jamb — usually the bottom hinge. To do that, loosen the hinge screws almost all the way, so that you have some play between the hinge and the jamb.

Insert a piece of wooden shim or other material, such as small pieces of plastic laminate, behind the hinge, then retighten the screws. You may need to adjust the amount of shim to get the door to swing correctly, and you may also need to add a small amount of shim to the center hinge as well.

The door latch hits the strike plate: This is caused by a strike cylinder that’s worked loose, or by a loose doorknob. If the strike cylinder that goes into the edge of the door is held in place with a small rectangular plate and two screws, first try tightening the screws.

If they’ll tighten and hold OK, that will pull the cylinder back into the door and hold it. If the screws won’t hold, then you’ll need to install dowels as described above.

Many newer doors have strike cylinders that are drive-in, meaning they’re held in place by a friction fit in the hole that’s drilled in the edge of the door, rather than by screws. They’re also held by tension on the doorknob, which is what the strike cylinder is connected to. First, loosen the screws holding the doorknob, so that you have a little play in the knob.

Set a block of wood against the strike cylinder, and tap it with a hammer to drive it back into the door until it’s flush with the door’s edge. Finally, securely tighten the doorknob’s screws to hold the knob and cylinder in place.

The door hits the wall: You need a door stop. There are three types of door stops available, depending on the situation. The simplest is a solid or flexible stop with a screw on one end and a rubber cap on the other, which is screwed into a pilot hole that’s drilled into the door or into the baseboard.

Another style is a hinge stop, which is used when you want to stop the door before it can open far enough to contact a stop on a wall. To install this type of stop, remove the top or center hinge pin, slip it through the hinge stop, then reinstall the pin in the hinge.

The hinge stop has an adjustable rod that screws in and out to contact the door at different points, allowing you to stop the door’s swing exactly where you want it.

The third type is called a floor stop. Floor stops are attached directly to the floor, and are the strongest of all the stops, making them especially well suited for commercial applications. On the downside, because they sit directly on the floor, they can sometimes be in the way.

Floor stops typically have a long pin that fits into a predrilled hole in the floor for strength, along with a screw that secures it to the floor.

Remodeling and repair questions? Email Paul at paulbianchina@inman.com. All product reviews are based on the author’s actual testing of free review samples provided by the manufacturers.

We made the front page of the Idaho Statesman today! This is just the best kind of news for us, as New Home Construction composes a large part of the product that we handle as a team. It just keeps getting better!

Link to the full Statesman article is here, and here’s an excerpt:

Scott Tutt, owner of Scott Tutt Building Co. in Boise, shrank his business during the recession to keep it alive. He built about a dozen homes a year, compared with 40 in 2006.

He watched longtime suppliers close, contractors leave the industry and employees in construction-related organizations lose their jobs.

“A lot of friends and businesses have gone away,” said Tutt, who builds 1,800- to 2,800-square-foot homes in the $200,000s.

They’re not going away anymore.

Tutt and other Treasure Valley builders say they’re building more homes than in previous years, and buildable lots are being snapped up.

Read the full article at IdahoStatesman.com

http://stateimpact.npr.org/idaho/2012/04/12/little-by-little-idahos-hard-hit-housing-market-begins-to-revive/

From the article: “For us, it’s all about access,” says David McCauley, a 48-year-old IT professional who grew up on the east coast and moved to Boise with his family several years ago. “Skiing in 45 minutes, fly fishing in the Boise River, which also has some cool kayaking spots. Mountain biking is literally out my door, and we live downtown.” As for the kids? “They ride their bikes all over,” says McCauley. “They’re allowed to do things alone, but they’re never really ‘alone’.”

Read the full article here.

New-home sales in Ada and Canyon counties increased significantly in January and February, according to data from the Intermountain Multiple Listing Service.

Ada County sales of new homes up 33 percent in January over January 2011. In February, they soared 78 percent to 82 in February from 46 in the same month last year.

In Canyon County, new-home sales 75 percent to 14 in January and rose 45 percent to 16 in February.

Kit Fitzgerald, an agent with Red Barn Real Estate and president of the Ada County Association of Realtors, said she made offers on three new homes the weekend of March 24 and 25 on behalf of a buyer before they were able to make a deal. That’s because other buyers got to the homes sooner.

“It’s who can get it first,” Fitzgerald said.

She said buyers are turning to new homes because of the lack of existing homes for sale and good deals on new construction.

At the end of February, 2,901 new and used homes were listed for sale in the Treasure Valley. That’s about a four-month supply at current sales rates if no other homes were added. A six-month inventory is considered a healthy market.

Because of demand, prices are now going up, and builders aren’t offering concessions or discounts as they have in the past few years, Fitzgerald said.

“Everything in every price category has gone up,” she said. “Anything $150,000 and less is just flying off the shelf.”

Ada County sales volumes and prices are at 2002 levels, she said.

People moving to Idaho from other states, either for new jobs across a variety of industries or to be near family, are driving some of the growth in new construction and home sales, Fitzgerald said.

“We are in recovery,” she said. “We would like it to continue to stay steady.”

I will admit, I had tears in my eyes. As so many of you know, we Realtors always work to put on a brave face, smile when no one else is smiling, and work to be the world’s best cheerleaders while being told “no” every single day. No matter how many times the banks turn us down, our clients change their minds, and our buyers and sellers reject the contracts we work so hard to create, we keep our heads up and power through to the next potential sale. In many cases, we work and work to never get paid, and so many times we do everything in the world to make a sale go through, only to wait at the end to see if all of the other players perform. And, if it doesn’t work, we get to deliver the bad news to our clients.

Well, last Monday, my head went up higher than usual, and my smile was the broadest it’s been, because I felt like one of the guys for the first time, all because of Max. This isn’t normally the case in new construction. Normally, the contractors don’t like to talk to us Realtors very much. I’m sure they think we just cash big checks and drive fancy cars. I don’t know if they realize just how hard we work every day, but Max validated all of those long hours, disappointments and frustrations that we feel and made my job so much better. What all customers, clients, builders, contractors, and suppliers should know, is that the appreciation that I received that day from Max, means more to me than any check that is cashed. Realtors are people people. We need more than anything to feel like we’ve done a good job for our people….bottom line. Max, you are a gem. Thank you so much for your gratitude – you have no idea what an impact you had on me, and I promise to work that much harder to bring in more work for you.

And for anyone who is reading this, please tell someone who works hard for you, thank you. Gratitude is priceless.

Kit Fitzgerald

Historically, February sales outpace January by an average of 14%. February 2012 sales increased by 14% over January 2012.

Nationally we know that one job is create for every two homes sold.  So far in 2012 we have helped to create 400 jobs.  We also know that for each homes sold there is a $60,000 cash infusion to the community; based on YTD sales we have added $50Million to our valley’s economy so far this year.

Of our total sales in February… 44% were distressed….down 9% from January 2012. In February 2011, 59% of our sales were distressed. The 9% decrease in February returns us to the average that we’d been seeing over the last 8 months.   In July we were down to 42% overall.

Pending sales at the end of February were 975; an increase of 14% from the end of January. In general pending sales increase in February compared to January; and should continue to increase all the way through April or May. The percentage of pending sales in distress decreased 6% from January, totaling 41% overall. We are now at ten consecutive months below 50%.

At the end of February, we had 14% more sales pending than at the end of January 2011.

February median home price was 158,000; up 5.6% from February 2011; and up 14% from January 2012.

New Homes median price for January was $209,000; a decrease of 1% from January 2011.

The number of houses available continues to decrease. At the end of February our total active inventory was 1,932 homes. This is down 1% from December and 27% less than last year at this time.

At the same time, the percentage of distressed active inventory dipped 1% to 34%. We have been hovering between 33% and 36% since May. We remain well below the 40% levels set last spring….when we were on the increase.

In Ada County we have 4.4 months of inventory on hand.

The price category in shortest supply is <$119,000 with 2.5 months. In the range of $120,000 to $159,999 we have 3.7 months. All price points up to $200,000 have less than 5 months supply. We have benefited all year from inventory levels much lower than national average. Now, however, we are starting to see some slowdown in sales as the inventory continues to fall. Multiple offers are much more prevalent than any time since 2005.

REALTOR® Magazine online offer great insight into managing multiple offers with their Negotiating Toolkit.

Based on February sold data, our most desirable price point is <$120,000 at 28% of all sales.  The next largest price point sold is $120,000 to $160,000 which accounted for 23% of total sales.  The biggest increase was in sales between $200,000 and $250,000; which were up 100% from January 2012 to 14% overall.

There is no longer any doubt that, in Ada County, we are in full recovery mode.

The challenge to our continued recovery is available product.

There continues to be broad speculation on the impact of REO properties coming onto our market in a way that would upset our continued recovery.   The level of consumer demand, and the nearly bare cupboards of home inventory suggest that we will be able to withstand the impact.

http://acarwatercooler.com/2012/03/12/february-market-report-it-just-gets-better-and-better/

5 things homebuyers hate

Last month I put a post up on my real estate blog distilling a few lessons from my own experience about things sellers do that turn buyers off, and vice versa. I was a little concerned that the article might cause some backlash among buyers and sellers — protesting that the described behaviors were less harmful than I’d suggested.

The outcome was exactly the opposite: The topic struck such a chord that nearly 100,000 people read the article, and almost 200 chimed in with their own entertaining (and somewhat worrying) anecdotes about house hunting and home selling.

Some themes emerged, which I thought were “share-worthy” for those who are desperately seeking to level up their homebuying or selling game. Straight from the horses’ mouths, here are five things homebuyers hate; next week we’ll turn to things sellers can’t stand.

1. Images that lie

Stretching photos to make rooms appear much larger than they actually are would be banned by listing services, if buyers had anything to do with it. And if your home is pristine and staged during the photo shoot (which it should be), it should still be pristine and staged when buyers come to see it in person.

Taking a photo of just one corner of a room that is shaped strangely or stuffed full of personal items is another way to confuse and irritate buyers, who hate nothing more than to feel like they were misled and tricked into wasting their time to see a place that is nothing like the photos.

2. Listings with no useful images at all

Listing photos of the piano or a piece of beautiful furniture that is not included in the sale is irritating to online house hunters, who might assume that the house had no other attractive features to furnish. Even worse: Home listings with no photos at all.

Nine times out of ten, when the listing has no photos buyers simply scroll or click right past those homes — even the ones that might perfectly meet their expectations.

Sellers, let’s be clear: Skilled listing agents who are getting homes sold in today’s market are putting 10, 20 even 30 photos of each listing online. That’s your competition. If a buyer only has time to see seven homes on a Sunday, and there are 20 listed in your area and price range, chances are good that those with the best, most numerous pictures will capture those valuable showing slots.

Often, listings with no photos are that way because of technical difficulties. Check on your home’s online listings on various real estate search sites and alert your agent if there’s a problem with the pictures.

3. Misleading marketing

Problems in the condition of the home that will be obvious when buyers enter, like a shifting foundation or clearly leaky roof, should be disclosed as such in the listing to minimize the inconvenience to you and those buyers who wouldn’t have bothered to visit if they knew. Disclosing such problems upfront will maximize your chances of finding the right buyer, who is willing to take them on.

Phrases like “immaculate” and “better than new” set you (and your home) up for failure when the buyer walks in and sees even normal wear and tear, or the smells and clutter of daily living.

4. “Stalkerish” sellers

Sellers who are intrusive or follow buyers around during a showing were No. 1 on my own list, and on the lists of buyers who commented on my earlier article. You might love the murals you’ve painted on your kids’ walls or the custom living room crafting area you’ve set up, and want to share your love with prospective buyers.

But the fact is that most buyers just aren’t interested, and would rather be able to discuss their plans to get rid of crazy customizations freely with their spouse and their agent than feel obliged to feign appreciation. (I’ve even had some buyers say they liked a house, but kept looking because they would have hated to pull out the sellers’ beloved personal touches.)

5. Bizarro showings

Dogs, kids and sleeping residents all made recurrent appearances in the comments to my article. I’ve personally shown more than one home with dog “leavings” on the interior carpets, and even once joined my out-of-shape clients on a foot chase to catch a wily little dog whose owner had left explicit instructions not to let “Fido” out (but left him roaming around the house, poised to dart out the front door the second I opened it). One reader related a showing in which she opened a hall closet door and out popped a dog that had been cooped up there for the occasion.

A short-sale buyer related the depressing tale of an 8-year-old boy who showed her the whole house, while another distressed property viewer told of the kid who ran after her and her husband, screaming, “You can’t have my house!” Multiple buyers told of walking into rooms where people were changing clothes, eating, frying up food or sleeping during the showing.

And there was the house in which someone had recently passed away — where someone had reportedly placed a rose on the deceased person’s bed. Not a selling point.

Showing bizarreness is tough for buyers to get past, even if the place is a palace.