Home Decor | Housing | Real Estate

Is the worst of the housing market past us? I do question if this is the case. Can prices go lower? Is recovery already here? My opinion is that the housing market has a long way to go before we can claim a bottom. Until the government addresses that main problem of lost equity it is my opinion that we will continue to see foreclosure and consumer debt problems. Remember that for 95% of the population their house is the largest investment they will ever make. Currently these investments are down 20-30% or more in some areas. For example if you owe $300,000 on a house and it is now only worth $200,000 its hard to argue a strategic walk-away. I have had many clients ask me this question. What to do?

Overall values of homes might take 10 years to get back to the level they had been at over the previous 4-5 years when many people bought homes that are now “underwater”. Like any other investment if the value is decreasing you make the choice to hold or sell. This decision is even harder when you are continuing to pay money towards a falling investment each and every month.

Until this issue is addresses I do not see recovery on the horizon. Banks and lenders all made heavy profits while the cost of housing was doubling over a 10 year span, but now these same banks and lenders do not want to back down the principal of these loans to match up with the value of the house in hopes of a quick recovery. I do not see this happening unfortunately.

When spring and fall bring rain, homes across America experience seepage, flooding, and increased levels of moisture and humidity. Only a handful of homes have sump pumps or dehumidifiers to help their situations out. Even these measures are not enough, in some cases, to keep basements and crawlspaces dry.

While summer is a time for doing things, getting out the home, enjoying the yard or the beach and the winter is for family, each season brings unique opportunities for homeowners to have protective measures installed or their existing systems updated or serviced.

The majority of basement waterproofing and foundation repair companies in America work year round, which plays on the side of the homeowner considering that even in dry seasons, they can easily receive service.

Interior basement drainage solutions and protection can easily be installed and upgraded year round because of the benefits of working inside. Even during the peak of winter’s snowfall a sump pump could easily be maintained to protect the home for the coming spring thaw.

The misconception has been for years that if a basement is dry now, it will always be dry. This is simply not the truth. A basement is constantly surrounded by moisture and or liquid water. So it might be dry now, but it will always have the possibility of becoming wet.

With that new mindset in place we now get a chance to see the basement in a new light. Seeing as the foundation is one of the 3 most important aspects of the home, maintaining it and it’s condition are drastically important to the home’s overall health. Together with the Roof and the Main support beams, the basement and foundation make up the major protective features of any home.

Keeping the basement dry is a job that is hard to do alone, which is why sump pumps are installed in the first place. They are designed to give you the extra muscle, without the extra work of being down there yourself, bailing out water in buckets.

Having a non-functional sump pump in the spring or the fall can spell disaster for any basement. Having no sump pump at all is just taking a risk on the fact that a dry basement will stay dry forever.

Take the opportunity between rainstorms to assess your basement and foundation by having a Free Basement Inspection provided by a professional company near you. From there determine the best protection for your unique situation. Each basement needs to be protected and doing so is easier, cheaper and faster to accomplish during the down times for professional service companies. Make this winter the time you look towards maintaining your basement.