Home improvement

Avoid these 4 big home insurance mistakes

hari drack 11 hours ago

For homeowners in coastal states, the 2020 hurricane season could mean financial disaster. Named storms are rolling in at a record pace, with as many as 25 expected in the Atlantic this season — twice the average number. After battering the Louisiana coast in late August, Hurricane Laura alone may account for as much as $12 billion in insured losses.

Even if you think you’re prepared, you may discover that your homeowners insurance doesn’t fully cover damage from a hurricane. To make sure you’re protected, avoid these four costly pitfalls.

Skipping flood insurance

Flood insurance is optional, and only 15% of American households buy it, says Mark Friedlander, spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute.

But when a hurricane or storm hits, flooding causes more residential losses than high winds, according to a 2019 report from the U.S. Congressional Budget Office. That means most homeowners, even those with hurricane or wind

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Oppenheimer’s Concerns About Near-Term Future

hari drack 1 day ago

InvestorPlace

7 Monthly Dividend Stocks To Buy Now For Safe Payouts

The stock market can be broadly separated into two groups — dividend stocks and non-dividend stocks. Among stocks that pay dividends to shareholders, most do so on a quarterly basis. But there are other directions a company can take with its capital return policy. Some companies decide to pay a dividend once per year, while others pay semi-annually. There are even monthly dividend stocks.Income investors may find monthly dividend stocks to be attractive, as they pay 12 dividends per year. Monthly dividend stocks deliver more frequent income payments than stocks with other payout schedules. * 10 Education Stocks to Buy for the Fall School Season This article will discuss our top 7 monthly dividend stocks right now.InvestorPlace – Stock Market News, Stock Advice & Trading Tips * Realty Income (NYSE:O) * STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) * Shaw Communications (NYSE:SJR) *

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Millennial homeowners have done the most home improvement projects during extra time spent in the house

hari drack 2 days ago

Millennials are getting handier around the home since lockdown measures began, according to new research.

In fact, a poll of 2,000 homeowners found that compared to other generations, millennials have been the busiest, with 81 percent having tackled a home improvement project since March.

Conducted by OnePoll in conjunction with Bernzomatic, a manufacturer of handheld blowtorches, the survey examined the various home improvement projects American homeowners completed while stay-at-home orders have been in effect — and looked at why they’ve taken them on.

SWNS

For 65 percent of those polled, a project was done to save money while 49 percent simply needed something to keep themselves busy while being in lockdown.

Overall, the average homeowner has already attempted four different home improvement projects since March — guesstimating a savings of over $160 just by trying a project themselves.

All this, without the help of an outside contractor (47 percent opted

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Is Home Depot (HD) Benefiting From the Stay-at-Home Trend?

hari drack 3 days ago

The Home Depot Inc. HD, which is a leading home-improvement retailer in the United States, is one of the prime beneficiaries of the coronavirus pandemic-induced a stay-at-home trend across all regions. This trend has proved to be a blessing for the home improvement industry. Notably, there has been a marked increase in repairs and home-remodeling projects in the past few months, as people are spending more time at home due to the increased work-from-home situation.

The company noted that accelerated customer engagement for home improvement in the second quarter of fiscal 2020 led to strong growth in its Pro and DIY customer categories. Notably, it witnessed strong demand for exterior and interior projects like deck building, painting projects, landscape work and home repairs due to increase wear and tear. As a result, DIY sales outpaced Pro sales growth in the fiscal second quarter.

Further, its Pro customers’ sales accelerated significantly

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Why Home Improvement Has Surged And How It’s Changing America : NPR

hari drack 4 days ago

“It used to be a backyard. Now it’s a summer oasis,” says Astoria Camille of the water feature she built in her mother’s Kansas City, Mo., backyard using an old stock tank and 53 bags of pea gravel.

Frank Morris/KCUR


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“It used to be a backyard. Now it’s a summer oasis,” says Astoria Camille of the water feature she built in her mother’s Kansas City, Mo., backyard using an old stock tank and 53 bags of pea gravel.

Frank Morris/KCUR

The sound of power tools is roaring in neighborhoods across the United States.

In the Brookside neighborhood in central Kansas City, Mo., John Buhr has do-it-yourself projects going from top of the garage to the basement.

“As soon as COVID hit, we needed someplace the kids could play,” Buhr says, noting that neighborhood parks were closed. “So we put a playhouse down [in the

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Home Improvement Stocks Vie With Tech for an Investor Reckoning

hari drack 5 days ago

(Bloomberg) — Global tech stocks aren’t the only ones due an investor checkup. Home improvement companies have also surged during the pandemic, and it’s fair to ask if this is as good as it gets.

An equal-weighted basket of 30 of the world’s biggest home improvement companies is up 23% this year, easily besting the 2% rise in the MSCI AC World Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The gauge has almost doubled from its March lows, outpacing even the 63% rise in the high-flying Nasdaq-100 Index.

The gains have left stocks in the basket — including U.S. giant Home Depot Inc., Kingfisher Plc from the U.K. and Germany’s Hornbach Holding AG — trading on an average of 25 times forward earnings, up from 19 times at the end of February.



a screenshot of a cell phone on a table: Global home improvement stocks have surged this year

© Bloomberg
Global home improvement stocks have surged this year

While the coronavirus has upended large swathes of

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14 Home Upgrades That Will Boost Property Value

hari drack 6 days ago

Across the country, there is currently a limited supply of available homes on the open market. This gives prospective sellers the upper hand in real estate negotiations, so many homeowners are looking to increase the future value of their home even further.

With a few strategic home improvement projects, you can not only increase your quality of life in the near-term future, but also add tremendous property value when you’re ready to sell. But which upgrades are the most likely to pay off down the road?

Below, 14 members of Forbes Real Estate Council share the best projects and room renovations to invest in right now.

1. Kitchen

Kitchens sell homes! The largest sell is absolutely the upgrades in a kitchen. The culture today is cooking from home

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Home Depot, Inc. (The) (NYSE:HD) – Wall Street Weighs In On Home Depot’s Blowout Q2, BofA Upgrades Stock

hari drack 2 weeks ago

Home Depot Inc (NYSE: HD) was one of several major retailers to report blowout second-quarter earnings this week, sending the home improvement stock soaring.

Home Depot posted second-quarter EPS of $4.02 on $38.05 billion in revenue Tuesday. Both numbers topped consensus analyst estimates of $3.71 and $34.53 billion, respectively. Revenue was 23.4% higher year-over-year.

U.S. same-store sales rose 25%, and Home Depot’s average purchase amount was up 10.1%. It was the first quarter of double-digit same-store sales growth for Home Depot in more than seven years.

Several analysts weighed in on the stock following the impressive print. 

Long-Term Tailwinds For Home Depot: BofA Securities analyst Elizabeth Suzuki said it’s not too late to buy Home Depot shares to capitalize on the shelter-in-place environment.

“Although home improvement spending in the coming quarter may decelerate amidst sequentially declining government stimulus/unemployment benefits, we believe that the longer-term tailwinds for the home improvement industry

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The best credit cards for home-improvement projects

hari drack 2 weeks ago

This page includes information about the Discover it® Cash Back product, which is currently not available on Business Insider and may be out of date.

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  • If you’re sprucing up your space, make sure to think long and hard about how you’ll pay for the project.
  • Covering for your home or landscaping remodel with a credit card can yield some significant benefits, including 0% APR, cash back, or travel rewards. 

  • Some of the best rewards credit cards let you earn a significant sign-up bonus as well, which can
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Home Depot and Lowe’s benefit as bored shoppers hammer away at home

hari drack 2 weeks ago

  • Shoppers continue to flock to Home Depot and Lowe’s, as home improvement projects have eclipsed other forms of entertainment spending.
  • Investment firm Wedbush Securities highlighted this trend in an August 10 note.
  • According to analysts, “reduced travel and entertainment spending” has prompted a shift to home improvement spending. 
  • Both Home Depot and Lowe’s report second-quarter earnings next week. 
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

Back before the coronavirus pandemic, people went to the movies, ate out at restaurants, and traveled to faraway places on vacation.

Now that cinemas are shuttered, indoor dining is at reduced capacity, and flights are a risky proposition, consumers’ “fun” budgets are increasingly going towards home improvement projects.

Wedbush Securities equity research analysts Seth Basham and Nathan Friedman highlighted this trend in an August 10 note about two giants in the industry: Home Depot and Lowe’s. Both home improvement retailers have seen major gains from

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