Twenty years ago, there was only This Old House to guide the do-it-yourselfer. Today HGTV, The Home and Garden Television network, is viewed by over 90 million households. Energetic hosts like Krista Watterworth have created wonderful programs that entertain as well as inform. The explosive growth of Home Depot and Lowes, one of HGTV's [...]

High school seniors financial literacy scores have gone from bad to worse as announced by the Jump$tart Coalition last week. High school seniors from across the United States took the Jump$tart Coalition survey and the mean score was 48%, a decrease from 52% in 2006. Rhode Island students received a mean score of 48% in 2008, a slight [...]

Spring is here in Rhode Island and everything is starting to come alive again, including the market! We actually got some positive economic news this week. Existing homes sales rose 2.8 percent for single family homes and 3.7 percent for condominiums last month, adding to the speculation that the housing cycle may finally be bottoming out. [...]

This week Rich and I were live at the Home Show at the Rhode Island Convention Center, by the time our show was off the air, the center was really filling up, this year's focus was on Green trends in building, and there were lots of good ideas for everyone, in this day and age, any time you are considering new constuction, or remodeling you [...]

Cost-vs-Value studies consistently reveal Kitchens and Baths recoup 77-85% of the remodeling cost at resale. For sellers, a little extra work can mean not only a difference in how much they can ask for their home but also if they get to the closing table at all. Most buyers will not invest in a house that has only one bathroom no matter how [...]

When I learned last week that the Governor's proposed budget for fiscal year 2008 includes a retroactive cap on the Historic Tax Credits, I was not very happy. The program supplies tax credits worth 30% of construction costs and while it is true that the state loses in tax revenue, it also creates economic output through new jobs, [...]

In the long run, the value of Real Estate will always go up, but the day to day, especially these days, can be pretty scary. If you are in the market today, you are aware of market psychology and its role in the current downturn. As with everything else, knowledge is power; a better understanding of the market is the key to turning bad [...]

Freddie Mac reported last Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.69 percent, marking the second week that 30-year mortgages have been below 6 percent and the third week that rates dropped. This week's average was the lowest since the week of July 14, 2005 when the 30-year mortgages were at 5.66 percent. So, with interest [...]

Did you feel like you were living in the mall this holiday season? My final guests of the year, Michael Townsend and Adriana Yoto, along with 6 others, did just that. These 8 artists lived in their 750 square foot apartment, complete with an entertainment system, off and on for 4 years until they were caught by mall security last fall. When [...]

Is the big news this week the subprime rate freeze plan announced by the Bush administration? Or is it another political red herring? At first glance, it sounds really good, but let's look a little further into the [...]