House Doctors featured in Business Courier

House Doctors was recently featured in an article titled “Confident CEO buys out owner of House Doctors” that ran in “Business Courier”. The article discusses Jim Hunter's confidence in House Doctors and why he decided to purchase the company. It also discusses House Doctors current stance in the home repair industry and growth plans for the  company moving forward. Click here to view the entire article.

Confident CEO buys out owner of House Doctors

By: Tom Demeropolis

Jim Hunter, CEO of home repair and remodeling franchise House Doctors, sees so much potential in his industry, he decided that just running the company wasn’t enough.

He was brought in to lead Milford-based House Doctors in 2007, by company founder Paul Spires Jr. A month ago, Hunter purchased the company.

“I think I saw more of an opportunity than the owner did,” said Hunter, who wouldn’t disclose the purchase price. “It’s like Ray Kroc, who saw something more than the McDonald’s brothers did.”

House Doctors’ services range from building a deck to installing exhaust fans and light fixtures.

Click here to read the entire article.

National Home Renovation Month

It's National Home Renovation Month! In honor of this glorious occasion we wanted to take a look at some common home renovations and how they can impact your resale value. Instead of typing this all out we found this great infographic on Pinterest courtesy of Patricia Demmie that is a fun dynamic way of displaying this information. Enjoy!

What Renovations Have The Best Resale Value.

House Doctors CEO Sees Industry Uptick, Seizes Opportunity to Buy Own Company

Over the last few years, less new homes have been built so existing homes have taken up the slack. There is a huge shift in property needs taking place as the “baby boomers” become the “seniors of tomorrow.” Smaller homes with bathrooms on the ground level are becoming more popular. “Aging in place” modifications to existing homes is the fastest growth part of the remodeling industry at the moment.

This “aging in place” remodeling trend helped create an uptick in the home improvement sector, according to Milford, OH-based House Doctors, a 17-year-old, 90-plus-unit professional handyman service. Company executives cite an increase in average jobs throughout the country and record franchise owner sales growth quarter over quarter. In fact, it was the reason CEO Jim Hunter purchased the House Doctors company himself.

Since September 2007, Hunter has been CEO and president of House Doctors (also known as House Medic in some areas). A veteran of the franchising industry from both the franchisor and franchisee perspective, Hunter performed exceedingly well since being recruited by Paul Spires, Jr., who founded House Doctors in 1995. Spires launched the company while still in his early 20s, but sought Hunter's franchising experience and knowledge to increase House Doctors' brand awareness and foster its growth.

Now, Jim Hunter has invested into the home sector by choosing to own the brand he ran as its CEO. House Doctors has enjoyed system-wide sales and growth success and will continue use its success and new ownership to expand more throughout the country.

It's a Colorful Life Inside Your Home

How to liven up your home with color

The summer months are all about color. From flowers in bloom to vibrant beach towels and colorful dresses, summer brings with it a multitude of hues. As you look around, you might start to feel like your home is a little, well, blah. If so, just adding a little pop of color into your home can help.

Once you have an idea of the color direction you are heading for your home, the fun begins. Start by thinking about the colors you want to add, where color can make the most impact, and just how much you need to give your home a fresh look.

Here are a few tips to get you started on your adventure in color.

Explore color
More than likely, you already have a favorite color in mind and would be OK seeing more of it in your home. Or, maybe a little inspiration from the season's hottest hues would help. Either way, the first step is to explore color. Take a visit to your favorite clothing boutique, stop in at a paint store or flip through home design magazines. Choose the looks you are most drawn to or the colors that evoke a feeling of happiness or calm. These colors reflect your personal style and will make you feel most comfortable in your home.

Start small
After picking a color palette, don't go out and paint your whole house with it, start small. Just changing your accent pillows, throws, lampshades or accessories can make a big impact when you are first incorporating a new color. Remember to make sure the color flows well throughout the entire space, especially if your home has an open floor plan with rooms easily visible from one to another.

Accent with artwork
Another easy way to bring color to your home is by updating artwork and wall decor. Simply moving artwork from one room to another can give your home a refreshing look, and adding some newly purchased pieces to other spaces can breathe new life into your home.

Be brave
If you're ready to go all out with color, it's OK to make a dramatic change. The kitchen is a great place to go big with color and is usually the gathering place in the home. One of the best ways to bring bold color in the kitchen and set a tone for your entire home is to change your cabinetry. In addition to traditional wood-toned cabinetry styles, there is also a growing selection of on-trend paint and stain colors like KraftMaid's new Slate and Midnight finishes. Take it a step further by choosing glass front doors and adding a contrasting back panel inside the cabinet in colors like KraftMaid's serene Aegean or energetic Envy. Cabinetry colors can bring whimsy and personality to the kitchen.

"Colorful cabinetry can be a big commitment, but it also can set your kitchen apart in a sea of design sameness," says Sarah Reep, director of designer relations and education at KraftMaid Cabinetry. "This year's cabinetry trends are colorful yet timeless and work with just about any design style. The KraftMaid Style Finder on KraftMaid.com is a great way to see what cabinetry colors might work best for you."

The beauty of adding hints of color into your home is that with just a few thoughtful touches, it can feel as though your home has been completely made over. Be sure to carry elements of the color from room to room for maximum effect.

The Heat Is On Outside, Keep Cool Inside

As summer heats up, air conditioning bills can rapidly rise. As homeowners feel the heat, many are looking for ways to save and stay cool.

Many U.S. consumers strive to conserve energy at home. Forty-seven percent of Americans say they try to conserve energy all or most of the time, according to researchers at Iconoculture.

One way to help lower utility bills in the summer and year-round is to replace drafty or leaky old windows with new, energy-efficient products.

According to ENERGY STAR, replacing single-pane windows with ENERGY STAR qualified windows can save up to $126 to $501 a year on utility bills depending on your location.

For example, the Pella 350 Series vinyl windows provide durable, triple-pane insulating glass window options. These highly energy-efficient windows help keep your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

Vince Iturbe from Salt Lake City replaced a westward-facing kitchen window and immediately noticed a difference in the temperature inside his home.

"The window faces the sun the better part of the day, and it was just plain miserable during the summer," he says. "I'm so glad to be done with the heat."

Cool tips
Once energy-efficient windows are properly installed in your home, try these inexpensive, easy ways to help keep your house cool.

• Provide shade for east and west windows.
• When possible, delay heat-generating activities like baking or dishwashing until the evening on hot days.
• Use ceiling fans to circulate air to help make the house more comfortable without over-using the air conditioning. Seal air conditioning ducts and insulate ducts that run through unheated basements, crawl spaces and attics.
• Install white window shades or mini-blinds. Mini-blinds can reduce solar heat gain by 40 to 50 percent, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy.
• If you like energy savings, but dread cleaning blinds, consider windows and doors with optional between-the-glass blinds or shades. Since they're between glass, they accumulate less dust and dirt than traditional roomside window treatments. Plus, they can be closed when you are away to keep the heat out and opened when you are home to let the light in. With their outstanding energy-efficiency and built-in window treatments, it's a winning combination.

Top Seven Home Improvements

These projects are proven winners, but be in the know before you get started. Which home improvements give you the most bang for your buck, come selling time? The answer has to do with the term "ROI," or "Return on Investment."

In other words, what you will get out of what you put in. ROI is important because you want to recoup at least the same amount of money you put into your home when you sell it, or as close as possible. But it's not a simple equation to work out how to best maximize your payoff.

The Seven Best Home Improvements

According to Remodeling Online's 2006 survey of nearly 2,200 real estate professionals in 60 cities across the country, the home improvement with the highest return nationwide is a mid-range siding replacement. Other top projects include replacing your windows with either wood or vinyl one, both major and minor kitchen renovations, a bathroom remodel and a two-story addition. These are nationally averaged prices and percentages.

Watch Out for "Over-Improving"

Before you start tackling that high-yield improvement, know that there's a chance you could "over-improve" your home. That might sound crazy, but it happens most often when the project just doesn't fit the neighborhood or the home's value. For example, if you own a $125,000 home in a neighborhood full of three-bedroom, two-bath homes, and you decide to add on another garage or another floor, you might never recoup the cost of that work.

Why? If the project costs you from $25,000 on up, then you'd have to sell your home for at least $150,000 or more just to break even. Are like homes in your neighborhood selling for that? If not, you're out of luck, because your expensively remodeled home might not fit in with the value of other homes in the surrounding area. Thus it may not be as valuable to potential buyers, since house prices are often ruled by location, and who's to say they might not inherit your quandary when it's time for them to sell? Drop That Toolbox

You might be willing and able to do just about any home improvement project around your house, but before you tackle any major work, consider two things. First, ask yourself if you can do the job right. Saving money is one thing, but are you knowledgeable enough about the task at hand so you don't encounter major (and costly) problems?

Second—and perhaps more importantly—put yourself in the shoes of a potential buyer, even if you're not likely to sell for years. You might be proud of all your home improvements, but the homebuyer may ask lots of questions about the work. Like it or not, there is an inherent skepticism about homegrown handymen, no matter your talents. Professionally done work, on the other hand, tends to have a certain "seal of approval" that assures the job was done properly. Plus, most pros guarantee their work for an extended time, which gives buyers even more confidence.

Location, Location, Location

When looking at the numbers, you might find that they seem either too high or low for your given area. Remodeling Online attributes that to the leveling effect of averaging. "High demand for remodeling services in some parts of a given metro area may drive prices up, but this is often countered by lower demand—and lower prices—in another part of the same city," the report says.

Quality and differences in size and scope also account for differences in a project's cost. This is why, especially if you know you'll be selling your home within a year or two, it pays to consult a REALTOR® before you pick up a hammer.

Uptick in remodeling activity a sign of the times

Mary Ellen Podmolik | Chicago Tribune | May 20, 2012

The weakest part of the housing industry is single-family home construction, but home remodelers are in line for an upbeat year.

After rising 3.5 percent last year, to $107.4billion, homeowner spending on remodeling projects is expected to increase 12 percent this year and an additional 8 percent next year, says a recent forecast by the National Association of Home Builders and Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies.

That doesn't include spending by investors purchasing distressed properties and fixing them up either to resell or to turn into rental units. Add that in and the total spent was close to $300billion last year and is expected to increase.

Credit the anticipated spending to some of the same factors that have helped weigh down the housing market. The percentage of people who moved from one home to another in 2011, 11.6 percent, was at its lowest rate since the Census Bureau began tracking mobility in 1948. Because of declining home values, 26 percent of homeowners plan to stay in their homes at least 16 more years, and an additional 23 percent said they plan to stay put six to 10 years, according to a recent poll by the National Institute of the Remodeling Industry.

Also, homeowners in areas where the local housing market seems to have bottomed out may be more willing to invest in their properties again, taking on projects they deferred.

Consumers buying foreclosures or homes sold through short sales typically need to make improvements and repairs that last year translated into average spending of $7,300 during the first year of homeownership.

And finally, even homeowners with equity in their homes may decide that in the current market, trying to sell their home isn't worth the effort, so they'll tailor the home to their changing needs instead.

"The mix is going to change," said Kermit Baker, a senior research fellow at Harvard's Joint Center for Housing Studies. "It's not going to be driven by these upper-end projects. It's going to be driven by these smaller-scale activities and it's been deferred. There's a lot of folks who are not underwater or not that significantly underwater and aren't planning on moving anytime soon."

That's not good for would-be buyers who are waiting for choice inventory to come on the market. It's not good for homebuilders, either. But it's welcome news for remodeling professionals so long as homeowners have saved up enough for the projects or have the creditworthiness to borrow money.

Last year, the five most common remodeling jobs were bathrooms, kitchens, window and door replacement, repairing property damage and whole-house remodeling.

"Remodeling is (now) not driven by price appreciation or preparation for sale — by a lot of the things you'd normally thought of — but rather by simply good old-fashioned 'This is what I want. I want a place that is newer, has all the gizmos and is nicer to live in,'" said David Crowe, chief economist for the National Association of Home Builders. "It's a return to the real value of a home as a place that I will use rather than trying to gain appreciation."

Baker continues to believe that much of the remodeling industry's growth will come from changes made to homes to allow baby boomers to age in place. "That's going to be one of the really strong markets over the next decade," Baker said. "I'm really not sure the remodeling industry knows how to sell that population really well."

Lower rate and shorter terms: With interest rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages that hovered under 4 percent, it's little wonder homeowners who refinanced their mortgages during the year's first quarter were eyeing more stable products and shorter loan terms.

According to Freddie Mac, 31 percent of borrowers who refinanced during 2012's first three months traded in their 30-year loans for 20-year, 15-year or shorter-term mortgages. Meanwhile, 68 percent of borrowers who had hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages refinanced by moving into fixed-rate mortgages, the highest share in a year. Mortgage refinancings accounted for 81 percent of mortgage applications during the quarter.

mepodmolik@tribune.com

Twitter @mepodmolik