President Obama on Tuesday proposed rebates of up to $3,000 to help American consumers make improvements and upgrades to their homes with the goal of making homes more energy-efficient.

With job creation now a top priority for the Administration the “cash for caulkers” program as it has been dubbed is estimated to create tens of thousands of jobs as 2 to 3 million consumers are expected to invest in their homes by purchasing energy efficient windows and doors, insulation and other upgrades that are aimed at stimulating manufacturing and construction jobs from companies that produce the materials and companies that install them.

The bill must make its way through Congress still so let’s see what kind of support the measure gets from both Democrats and Republicans.

For those wanting to remodel and upgrade their home but short on the funds to pay for the project, an FHA loan program that has been around for more than 20 years has been given a new lifeline by the government in the form of expanded loan limits.

The Federal Housing Administration’s 203(k) loan program was established by Congress in 1978 with the goal of revitalizing blighted urban areas and to encourage working-class professionals to invest in and improve abandoned properties. With interest rates so low and loans easy to qualify for in the early part of this decade the 203(k) loan program was little used by most borrowers. While still under-utilized by borrowers today the number of 203(k) loans originated since 2007 has more than tripled in number and shows no signs of slowing down.

Much of the reason for this stems from the fact that the US government is creating incentives to help banks unload the tremendous number of foreclosed homes they are holding on their books. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act the FHA has raised the maximum loan amount to as much as $729,750 for high-cost areas. This means that those wishing to remodel their homes may be able to borrow several hundred thousand dollars to buy and remodel their home, or to refinance their existing mortgage and remodel their home.

There are generally two types of 203(k) renovation loans where borrowers take out one loan to cover the purchase or refinance and remodeling costs. The Streamlined (k) loan is for loan amounts up to $35,000 with no minimum requirement while the Standard (k) loan is for larger loan amounts where additions or structural work is involved. For more information on the 203(k) loan requirements and to locate approved lenders in your area visit the FHA’s 203(k) web page to see if the program fits your needs. Talk to a few 203(k) lenders and ask lots of questions and you just may find that this program is just the remodeling financing package that you have been looking for.

Homebuilders are responding to the looming deadline for the Home Buyers Tax Credit by building a limited number of spec homes in select communities across the US. The Tax credit is set to expire this year on June 30th for home purchases that have been signed by April 30th. Most economists and Washington watchers do not expect the credit to be renewed this time around.

Homebuilders got caught with too few spec (completed) homes when the previous deadline came around on November 30th and lost sales as a result. This time around builders are taking a cautious approach and on average are building 2 – 3 spec homes per community in their most popular subdivisions as opposed to not having any.

As reported in an article last week in the Wall Street Journal, builders are taking different approaches to what they call “finished” product. Builders are expecting buyers to wait until the last minute to get serious about their purchases and builders know that it typically takes four to six months to complete a new home, so the window to start construction is closing quickly.

The Journal article noted that KB home, the nation’s fifth largest builder will build a limited number of spec houses about half way through to the drywall phase, allowing enough time for buyers to personalize finishes and still close in time for the credit.

For those in the market for a new home the buying environment one can argue has not been much better in quite a long time. Builders are very flexible on both pricing and terms and will generally bend over backwards to get buyers to close on their purchases. If you are in the market to buy take note of the April 30th deadline for qualified buyers and happy house hunting.

Now that there is a break in the pounding levied on many areas in the East last week, gardeners can now think about what they need to do now to save or protect plants, trees, and shrubs from any damage from the storm.

Here are some tips for protection from snow and ice that may still be present in your yard:

* For trees with broken or damaged branches: use a good handsaw for larger trees and thicker branches to make clean cuts on branches that may be damaged or broken in order to facilitate healing and re-growth and to minimize disease.

* For small plants and shrubs, remove snow from plants that are holding a large amount of snow to lessen the possibility that when the snow becomes compacted and ice-hard that it will place pressure on the branches and possibly may cause them to snap and break.

* Minimize any use of salt in the garden as salt may damage or even poison plants and can degrade soil structure. Nonsaline products are available at home and garden centers. As an alternative for sidewalks and driveways use sand in these areas which provides good traction over the snow.

Remember to dress warm and drink lots of water while outside in the cold. Thanks to the Philadelphia Inquirer for many of the gardening tips above.

We feel for those of you digging out from under a mountain of snow from the storms that hit the East Coast last week. Hopefully there won’t be a repeat performance of the storms and residents have more time to “dig out” from what came through last week. Here from The Washington Post are a few tips that might help lessen the pain of removing the snow from driveways, sidewalks, and front porches.

* Dress warm and wear a hat to prevent heat loss along with boots with good tread

* If you are out of shape or overweight, go at a slow pace to reduce the risk of heart attack

* Shovel small loads and bend your knees and keep your back as straight as possible so you are lifting the snow with your legs

* Drink plenty of water while shoveling – do not drink any alcohol

* Take frequent breaks

Interesting little side note: I just heard on the news that some areas of New York have laws in place that snow needs to be removed from the front of buildings within four hours of the end of a snow storm. Washington DC’s law apparently allows for 8 hours. Failure to do so can result in the building owner being cited by the city for failure to clear a path for folks to pass by. Pretty tight rules if you ask me – what if you are at work when the snow fall ends?

We would love to hear more from our east coast friends about the hi’s and low’s of getting the snow out and away from your home or building once the last snow ends. Good luck everyone and be safe in the cold weather.

An article that recently appeared in REALTOR magazine noted that 242 of the 299 largest US Housing markets are selling for prices that bankers and lenders feel are less than fair market value. This conclusion is based on a comparison of median home prices, local interest rates, population densities, and income, plus historic premiums or discounts.

The 10 most under valued areas according to the study are:

1. Las Vegas - 41.4%
2. Vero Beach, FL - 39.8%
3. Merced, CA - 37.7%
4. Cape Coral, FL - 36.8%
5. Hourna, LA - 34.6%
6. Port St. Lucie, FL -33.3%
7. Warren, MI – 32.3%
8. Vallejo, CA - 31.9%
9. Modesto, CA - 31.8%
10. Stockton, CA - 31.8%

It seems like the housing market still has a long way to go. Given the numbers from the recent study, there is still “stress” in markets across the country as opposed to being concentrated in a select few unlucky markets. While we are not economists in any way, we would love to see the jobs numbers improve which in our view is the first step towards stabilizing the housing market. Lets see how the year progresses.

We received a letter last week from Oxmoor House of Birmingham, Alabama as a result last month of their recall of just under 1 million home improvement books published between January 1975 through December 2009. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is behind the recall and said it was necessary even though no incidents have been reported as a result of the information in the books.

Seems the books contain errors in technical diagrams and wiring instructions that may cause people to be shocked or may cause a fire hazard. You would think that more than a few folks at Oxmoor House would have read these books a few times over the years and found the errors a long time ago. On second thought, I don’t grab my wiring books off the shelf when I am looking for something to do so I can see why no one read through them much after all of these years.

If you have any of these books, Oxmoor will provide a full refund according to their letter and you can contact them at 866 696-7602.

The California state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) on Thursday approved and established the California Solar Initiative Thermal Program to the tune of $250 million to replace natural-gas powered water heaters, with $25 million set aside for low income customers. An additional $100 million will be used to swap out water heaters powered by electricity.

The cost of solar water heaters in California could drop by 15% - 25% when customers combine a 30% federal tax credit with the rebates from the state. Utilities participating in the program include Southern California Edison, Southern California Gas Co., Pacific Gas & Electric, and San Diego Gas & Electric.

Analysts estimate the new systems that come online could replace 585 million therms of natural gas, or the equivalent of placing a solar water heater in 200,000 single family homes. The systems could also replace 275 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year.

Companies that install solar water heaters were ecstatic over the decision given what many called a “dismal year” for their industry in 2009. An advocacy group called Environment California estimated the incentives could create more than 3,000 new jobs as installers see increased demand and bring back furloughed workers to meet the new demand.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a great program both for the environment and for the areas unemployed population. However, I thought California was broke since the government has been going through a brutal budget battle in trying to cut expenses and close one of the largest budget gaps in the state’s history. Seems like the rainy day fund was larger than legislators let on.

The National Association of Realtors reported on Tuesday that pending home sales of previously owned homes slid 16% to 96 in November from an upwardly revised 114.3 in October. This was a considerable drop in activity from one month to the next but it was largely expected due to the scheduled expiration in November of the first time home buyer tax credit.

Economists were unsure how much home sales would be affected in November due to the scheduled expiration of the credit which was subsequently extended but it proved to be considerable. Pending home sales were down across all regions of the country.

The data shows how fragile the housing markets recovery is and how dependent the market is on government support at this time. There are however positive signs of recovery in the market if you look closely. Home prices continue to inch up higher in many regions of the country. And the NAR’s pending home sales index for November was 15.5% higher than it was a year earlier. All good signs of a slow and hopeful recovery.

As President Obama works to move the measure dubbed “cash for caulkers” through Congress there is another upside to the work that might come from the proposal. Depending on whether or not Congress adds some thresholds to the proposal now making it’s way around Capitol Hill homeowners will need to meet certain standards of energy efficiency before being qualified to receive funds under the program. Such thresholds will mean an increase in home energy audits to determine the areas in a home requiring further insulation and improvements.

The U.S. Department of Energy talks about Home Energy Audits on their website both for DIY’ers and by professionals. A home energy audit done correctly will use equipment such as infrared cameras to reveal hard to detect areas of air infiltration in a home.

We will be watching this measure closely and will keep our blog readers updated as more information comes available.