A realtor we work with from time to time posted a link on her social networking site that the first time home buyer tax credit had been extended and gave information on where the information could be found.  I thought it was interesting and that it may be of some use to my clients so I am passing the information along.  See the link below.

The Worker, Homeownership and Business Assistance Act of 2009, signed into law on Nov. 6, 2009, extends and expands the first-time homebuyer credit allowed by previous Acts.

A good friend of mine from the Houston area living in the Caribbean sent me an article from a local paper about Extreme Makeover building a house for some people in Kemah.  Funny how she is more up on the local news than I am, but like most of you I have my head down working and don’t get to read the paper all that much.  I thought it was construction related was pretty interesting.

Remember hurricane Ike?  If you didn't know there are still a lot of people who have not recovered yet then ABC's Extreme Makeover should remind everyone that there is still a lot to do and people are getting it done.  Extreme Makeover is a reality show where they pick families in need and build them a new house from the ground up.  I try not to watch much TV and this is one of the few shows my family chooses to watch.

The show is currently working in Kemah helping a family of that cares for special needs kids.  The areas along the bay including Kemah, Bacliff, and San Leon were some hard hit areas.  If you look back through my posts these are the areas where Friends Disaster Services - Texas Area is still working to help people rebuild.

Check out these links to get more information on this story.  No reason to try to rewrite it all here:

The Bay Area Citizen has a good article on this story.

You can visit the Extreme Makeover web site to find out more on that.

If you want to donate time and materials to a similar cause on an ongoing bases contact Friends Disaster service, or any similar organization about how you can help.

My kids love this show so we may just have to drive down to see what it is all about.

Friends Disaster Service of Texas (FDSTA) is requesting help to work on homes to return them to a livable condition in the month of February (specific information on their site and may be subject to change).  In some cases the need for this help is dire.  Much of this work in the Houston area is still related to Ike damage and is in the area along the coast.

FDSTA is a Christian group which is part of the National Friends Disaster Service under the umbrella of the Friends Church.  This group is part of my personal church family and I have participated with this group after Katrina in Louisiana.  This is very rewarding work that really does make a difference in the lives of those we can help.  The more participants to assist FDSTA the more lives they can affect.

If you can assist or dontate visit the FDSTA web site or contact FDSTA at (281)332-6631or (281)808-7393.
They also have some information on the group including photos of the work they have done in the past.

This should be interesting.  I have not revied the information on this yet but they are asking for public comment:

TREC and TALCB will begin formal review of all agency rules and encourage the public and regulated industries to participate in the process.

The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) and Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (TALCB) have announced a formal review of all agency rules in 2010. This process is different from regular rulemaking proposals in that the agency's Rule Review initiative will include consideration of public and regulated industry comments prior to the writing of rule proposal drafts ...read the rest at TREC's Press Release page.

I received a notification this morning from NAHB regarding tax credits for new and repeat home buyers.  Here is the link they posted.

http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/

I have been working on the CONSTRUCTION CAM pages for a few days and they are now up including the time lapse video.  I have at least one more video to prepare showing placement of concrete and perhaps forms removal.  You should also check out the article contributed by Hunter Pest Control on pre-treatment.  Although pre-treatment is specified in code this is often poorly accomplished or ignored.  Hunter Pest Control provides great information on this subject.

Have a look at the CONSTRUCTION CAM Page

Well they did place the concerete as indicated in this original post shown below. Probably not much going on as it cures.  They normally do not start construction for 5 to 10 days but we shall see.  Starting early to get the framing up is not normally a problem since they don't put significant weight on the slab for a while.  Watch the camera  If they start early it would probably be this weekend.

The correct term really is 'Placing Concrete' and that appears to be what is going on today (Wed 11/25/200) on the construction cam.  As I left my office this morning a concrete pump truck pulled up to the curb.  Should be interesting to watch.

I am backlogged on getting up time lapse images.  Our business has been brisk preventing me from getting to these task but I have the data I just need to find the time to crunch it.

Check out What Is Going On Today at the Construction Site!

VIEW THE CONSTRUCTION CAMERA

Over the years Hunter Pest Control has supported Professional Engineering Inspections and our clients in relation to the pest control field with information and inspections and now they are doing it with a newly launched web site.  It has been up for several weeks but I wanted to give them a chance to get it setup and populated to see where he was going with it.  Jack Nuggent who is running things over there now has setup a new blog section I really like.  He is filling it with some pretty interesting stuff.

I think you will find good information on the blog now and in the future.  We appreciate their professionalism and quality of service to our clients.

New Site Click Here

I am trying to improve the education quality of this site through informative articles on common defects I find and where possible how to go about getting them corrected.  Education of our clients has always been one of the goals of the company web site was to help our clients to better understand common defects, concerns, and methods of repair.  This type content is very difficult and time consuming to prepare so it will be slow in coming but keep an eye on it because our goal is to keep adding such content to this relatively new site.

Thanks for looking here and don’t hesitate to send us your questions or concerns.  If possible I will address them here.

Check out our new posting:

Common Roofing Defects

Sincerely,
Edward Robinson, P.E.

I have gotten an email note from several friends and family.  Since it appears to be pretty neat I thought it was worth sharing this holiday season.  Send a message to the troops.  Check this out it is worth the small time it takes to send the note.

Let's Say Thanks From Xerox