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Welcome to
Houseworks Unlimited
You’ve worked hard for your home, so it’s important that it be treated with care and respect. Remodeling your home isn’t to be taken for granted or treated as ordinary. During our remodeling process, we strive to show you that we care about you and your home while providing you with top quality remodeling services.

Houseworks is an award winning full service remodeling company specializing in home additions and renovations, serving Montgomery, Howard, Frederick and Carroll counties. Since 1990 our creative design-build solutions have assured that our customers receive the best value for their investment. Our staff is committed to professionally managed projects and long term satisfaction.
December 6th, 2011

Department of Energy Updates Refrigerator Efficiency Standards

Recently, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released new minimum national energy efficiency standards for most new refrigerators, which will improve efficiency and cut energy use by refrigerators 25% by 2014. This is the fourth time that the standards have been strengthened. Since the first standards were implemented by the state of California in 1978, refrigerator efficiency has improved dramatically—a refrigerator that conforms to 2014 standards will use about one-fifth as much electricity as one from the 1970s.

Refrigerator efficiency standards are a prime example of government standards that actually benefit consumers. The precise savings for major categories are as follows:

• 25% for top-mount (i.e. freezer on top) and side-by-side refrigerator-freezers
• 20% for bottom-mount refrigerator-freezers
• 30% for automatic defrost freezers

Categories with lower sales volumes will require 10-25% savings.

Since the first standards were enacted, the price of refrigerators has dropped significantly, even though modern refrigerators are larger, have many more features and cost less to operate than previous models. In 1978, the average new model cost $1,566 in today’s dollars – almost three times as much as the $550 an average model retails for today. This trend is expected to continue, even as refrigerators grow in size and features. Read more »

November 22nd, 2011

Obama looks to preserve role of government in mortgage market

Federal loan subsidy would be extended for home buyers; Fannie and Freddie could be saved as well.

President Obama has directed a small team of advisers to develop a proposal that would keep the government playing a major role in the nation’s mortgage market, extending a federal loan subsidy for most home buyers, according to the Washington Post.

The decision follows the advice of his senior economic and housing advisers, who favor maintaining the government’s role as an insurer of mortgages for most borrowers. The approach could even preserve Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage finance giants owned by the government, although under different names and with significant new constraints, said sources knowledgeable about the discussions.

A decision to preserve a major government role would mark a big milestone in the effort to craft a new housing policy from the wreckage of the mortgage meltdown and could mean a larger part for Fannie and Freddie than administration officials had signaled.

In a statement, the White House said it is premature to say that senior officials have agreed on any of the three main options outlined earlier this year in an administration white paper on reforming the housing finance system.

For more information: www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/on-mortgage-rates-government-should-keep-significant-role-obama-says/2011/08/15/gIQA8wP0HJ_story.html?wpisrc=al_national

Thanks to Mary Beth Nevulis, HousingZone Contributing Editor

November 15th, 2011

Mortgage rates at record lows.

Meanwhile, 15-year fixed-rate loans and 5-year adjustable rate loans hit record-low levels of 3.54 and 3.18 percent, respectively.

Mortgage rates have fallen in recent days because of the debt deal — which averted a feared scenario in which the US Treasury ran out of funds to pay all its bills. That could have sent ripples of unrest through financial markets, pushing up interest rates throughout the economy.

So the good news for potential home-buyers is that the worst didn’t happen, and that mortgage rates have actually fallen a bit as a deal was reached.

Rates may have also come down for other reasons, such as signs of weakness in the US economy, which in turn postpones the day when interest rates will start rising back toward more typical levels. Also, fresh concerns about government debts mean firmer demand for US Treasury bonds as a comparatively safe alternative. Read more »

November 15th, 2011

Home prices up in half of US major cities

WASHINGTON — Home prices rose in August in half of major U.S. cities measured by a private survey, a sign that prices are stabilizing in some hard-hit portions of the country.

The Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index showed Tuesday that prices increased in August from July in 10 of the 20 cities tracked. That marked the fifth straight month that at least half of the cities in the survey showed monthly gains.

The biggest price increases were in Washington, Chicago and Detroit. The greatest declines were in Atlanta and Los Angeles.

The August data provides a “modest glimmer of hope” that some areas may have bottomed out and could be turning around, said David M. Blitzer, chairman of S&P’s index committee. He noted that cities in the Midwest — Chicago, Detroit and Minneapolis — have shown some strength since May.

Still, Robert Shiller, the co-founder of the index and a Yale economics professor, said in an interview on CNBC that overall home prices were “flat” and a recovery in the struggling housing market was not on the horizon. Read more »

October 25th, 2011

Gen Y to Drive Real Estate Recovery

As 15- to 32-year-olds mature, they will produce a massive increase in housing demand.

Population growth and demographic shifts – particularly the ongoing maturation of a diverse, well-educated Gen Y – will drive improvements in the real estate market over the next 10 years, according to economists with the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate. Read more »

September 9th, 2011

Universal Design in the Bathroom

Design considerations for aging-in-place, accessible spaces and adaptable dwellings have become the rule and not the exception. With that in mind, imagine a conversation with a Millennial couple about installing grab bars in their bathroom. Although they may not have a need for this feature at this time, as a design professional one should plan for their and other occupants’ potential needs.

There is an extraordinary amount of information about universal design and its application for how we design baths today. Add to that the advancements in products and technology of Read more »

September 9th, 2011

New Home Sales Holding Steady

Sales of new homes were down 2.1% from April to May but up when observing a more appropriate 3-month average. New home sales dropped to a record low in February but rose 16% above that level by April and have since leveled off at about a 320,000 home sales per year. This level still remains well below the more ‘normal’ levels of near one million sales per year. Monthly regional sales rates were up in the Midwest and South and down in the Northeast and West, but on a 3-month average, all regions were up or even. Read more »

September 8th, 2011

10 Post-Recession Kitchen and Bath Ideas

When homeowners today reach out to remodelers to update tired kitchens and baths, they do so with the expectation that they will get the latest kitchen and bath design ideas. And as kitchen and bath remodeling activity grows in the wake of the recession, some of the clearest and most promising new ideas are represented in the nearly 500 entries received by the National Kitchen and Bath Association for its annual design competition. Read more »

August 6th, 2011

Color Trends for 2011

This year’s hot color trends read more like a recipe for a tasty exotic meal than the hues for appliances, paints, cabinets, and other products for new and remodeled homes.

Jennifer Foresman, senior manager of trend and design for The Home Depot, said a product’s color is the main reason why 80% of consumers buy it–and 2011’s top colors have lots of fans. Here are the colors that Foresman told pros will be best sellers this year, during the recent Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas:

Read more »

June 16th, 2011

Cooking Appliances Focus on Time Savings and Ease of Use

While the recovering economy may eventually drive consumers back to restaurants in droves, the past few years have taught many that cooking and entertaining at home can be every bit as enjoyable as eating out – and a lot less expensive. Whether they want to create restaurant-style gourmet meals or quick and easy eat-and-run dishes, the latest cooking appliances present numerous options to meet these challenges.

Time savings continues to be a huge trend, so Read more »

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