By Sandra Miller
Daily Evening Item, Lynn, Mass.
On an early winter weekend morning, he drops off his family at one of the ski mountains, because his kids want to sled and his wife plans to shush down the black diamond slope. But he hates winter sports – way too cold for his liking -- so he drives a couple of miles away for some warm indoor holiday shopping at the Levis outlet, and some Black and Decker bargains for himself. He picks up a warm parka at the L.L Bean outlet, two pairs of loafers at the Bass store – buy one, get the second at 40 percent off! – and some stocking stuffers for his wife at the Farberware store – all of the kitchen gadgets are 50 percent off already discounted prices. He considers bargain hunting a contact sport, and he’s very good at it.
Got a family that can’t make up its mind how to spend its leisure time? North Conway offers the best of all worlds, a mere two-hour drive away. Its snow-tipped mountains cradle a multitude of entertainment choices -- shopping, skiing, skating, sleighrides, and Santa’s Village.
A popular four-season bed-and-breakfast getaway, this New Hampshire town tucked away in the White Mountains first greets visitors driving along Route 16 with a handful of antiques shops and New England charm. A mile more down the road, and you’re inundated with outlet shopping centers.
“I do all my Christmas shopping here,” said Settler’s Green outlets shopper Judy Oldale, a Newburyport woman sitting patiently, if a bit worn out, on a bench that served as an island amidst dozens of shopping bags. She was babysitting some of the items for her family, who still had some shopping strength left in their legs after a good four hours at the outlet. A veteran, she said she’d be back in January for some great post-Christmas sales, too.
Settlers’ Green features 50 stores, including Banana Republic, Nike, and J. Crew. The Tanger Outlet Centers includes Liz Claiborne, Fanny Farmer, and Corning Revere. More stores line Route 16, which leads into the more quaint shops along Main Street and its alleyways. Zeb’s features everything New England, from maple syrup to coffee, wooden toys to candles, plus an excellent penny-candy assortment. Try the Butterfinger fudge.
For something more substantial, head a few doors down to Horsefeathers, a restaurant that bills itself as the “Greatest neighborhood eatery in the known universe.” Can’t vouch for that, but the lobster ravioli in a light cream sauce was delicately delicious, as was the catch of the day, tuna prepared cajun-style. The bartender couldn’t make enough Cosmopolitans to keep up with demand, although one customer’s huge strawberry daiquiri turned quite a few heads. At night, upstairs features live bands.
If you arrive early enough on a Sunday, the White Mountain Hotel down the road offers a substantial array of brunch items until 1:30 p.m., featuring freshly prepared omelets, Belgian waffles with fresh berries, tender rosemary-flecked roast beef and creamy clam chowder, plus a decadent array of pastries. For some fine margaritas and inexpensive tacos, stop at Café Noche on your way home just before leaving North Conway, on Route 16. The special of the day during a recent visit were enchiladas with crawfish in a green-chile sauce.
For the kids, the Conway Scenic Railroad chugs around the region for a 55-minute Conway roundtrip to a 1 3⁄4-hour roundtrip to nearby Bartlett. For an extra fee, you can dine onboard. On November 30, and the first three weekends of December, the railway recreates the “Polar Express,” an award-winning children’s tale of a mystical journey to the North Pole. Another December ride features a visit from Santa, loaded with presents for children.
The beloved New Hampshire institution Story Land theme park in nearby Glen is closed until mid-June, but nearby Santa’s Village in Jefferson, featuring magic shows, train rides, and visits with Santa and his elves, is open Nov. 24-25, and Dec. 2, 9, and 16.
If weather isn’t obscuring the top of nearby Mount Washington, pick a good picture-perfect observation point to view the Northeast’s highest peak and the surrounding Presidential mountain range. Although you won’t be able to slap a bumper sticker on your car that declares it climbed the mountain, at least until the auto road reopens in mid-May, you can take a winter snowcoach tour, weather permitting.
In the spring, you can return to the mountain and check out the observatory and museum. Scientists love Mount Washington’s capricious weather conditions, and kids read with awe the museum’s plaque that details just how many foolishly unprepared hikers perished while attempting to climb the stormy mountain.
The White Mountains offer day skiiers full or half-day packages at a dozen area ski mountains, including Attitash Bear Peak, Black Mountain, Bretton Woods, Cannon, Cranmore, King Pine, Loon, and Wildcat.
For non-downhill skiiers, many of these resorts also offer cross country skiing, snowshoeing, snow tubing, ice skating, snowbikes, and even rock-climbing walls. Or try a horse-drawn Austrian Sleigh along the Ellis River at Nestlenook Farm Resort.
But as of early November, the area was still waiting for snow, or at least temps cold enough to support the snow-making machines. Outside of Main Street and the outlets, many of the businesses surrounding the ski slopes were shut down until the ski crowd picked up. One shopkeeper did a crossword puzzle. Almost all of the smaller shops had friendly workers all too willing to strike up a long chat.
“We’re in the in-between season,” apologized one storekeeper who had time to be very, very attentive to the two customers in his clothing-and-sunglasses shop on Main Street during a very sunny November Sunday. “It’s nice to relax a bit, but we can’t wait for the snow season to begin. Then it gets really crazy.”
-- Winthrop resident Sandra Miller didn’t get to cross-country ski, but left North Conway with four pairs of Bass shoes, two dresses from J. Jill, and a huge bag of kitchen gadgets.
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Wednesday, June 26, 2002
Wedding registries for people who have everything
By Sandra Miller
Daily Evening Item, Lynn, Mass.
When Wendy Kirby of Swampscott got engaged to Kris, they were in their late 20s and living together. “I had everything, so we didn’t really register,” she recalls. “I don’t think our registries were anything like someone who gets married at 21 or right after college.”
But she registered at the traditional spots: “Macy’s, only because it’s national and we have friends all around the U.S., and Crate and Barrel because it’s inexpensive.”
They wanted to replace the hand-me-downs that filled their home, but they had already had the pots, pans, and kitchenware. “We were both new into our careers, and not making much money; we didn’t have plates that matched.”
They ended up with getting 85 percent of what they registered for: tableware, informal china, silverware that matched, and new sheets, “expensive ones I wouldn’t buy on my own.”
Couples today are living together long before they say ‘I do.’ Or they are getting married for the second, or third. They have the usual registry items already, although some may be trading their Revereware for All-Clad. Others are registering online for honeymoons (check out AfterIDo.com or www.yourhoneymoonregistry.com), or asking for computer equipment, restaurant gift certificates, even tools from Home Depot.
“We had a young girl and her mother come in last week asking to do a bridal registry,” says David Pfeil, a service desk employee at Home Depot in Saugus. “It was a new one on me. I had to get the head cashier to explain it to us. The woman had half the registry picked out by her, and half by her husband.” He picked out items in the tool corral, lawn and garden, and a tractor, while she headed for the home décor and kitchen and bath area of the store. Home Depot does them all the time. “As a guy, you know, I don’t know much about bridal registries, but it’s not a bad idea,” says Pfeil, married 28 years. “I’d be looking for a circular saw or a power screwdriver. Or maybe if they sold golf clubs…”
The notion of the bridal shower can be traced back several centuries when legend has it the daughter of a rich merchant fell in love with a poor man. When her disapproving dad denied a dowry, the sympathetic townspeople ''showered'' them with gifts for their future home. The Victorians echoed the shower idea by placing tiny gifts into an umbrella, which was opened over the bride-to-be. Some of today’s brides are asking to be showered with BMWs at online spots like theknot.com, but most -- about 42 percent of all couples -- register in specialty stores. Couples in the U.S. registered for $27.5 billion worth of gifts, or an average of $6,800 per couple, two years ago. With the Internet shopping becoming commonplace, online gift registries made $1.2 billion in 1998; that’s expected to rise to $17 billion by 2004. That’s because more people are getting married, although the average bride is 28 before she puts on the ring. Nearly a third of Crate and Barrel’s business is in registries.
“The average bride ends up at Crate and Barrel,” says Elsa Pinto-Melikian, founder and CEO of yourweddingregistry.com. “Our brides are not average. They want to make sure they create a gift registry of what is a reflection of who they are, and how their home will look. They register for museum tickets to the Louve, gourmet cooking stores, even for a pure-bred dog.”
She started the California-based brick-and-mortar company when, getting married for the second time, she went to register at Williams Sonoma and found she had everything she wanted. But they had just bought a home, and so she started looking into registering for paint, gardening tools, and plants – “before I knew it, there was no place to go to register. I don’t have china, I don’t use it, doesn’t get used very often. I don’t like not having a choice.”
Pinto-Melikian’s customers have registered for bales of hay for their horse farm, Ace Hardware goods, and West Marine for boating supplies. Couples submit what they want, where they can find it or whether they want the company to find it for them, and yourweddings.com sends out elegant announcement cards to wedding guests, who can in turn access the list online.
“One couple, the only thing they wanted was a computer, for $5,000, so we let them do it, but asked our guests to have fun with it, to purchase it in small, bite-sized pieces -- mouse, keyboard, screen, software – nothing was over $150. The computer was so she could work at home.”
One of her clients created a list whose least-expensive item on her registry list was $800. “Even if your last name is Getty, that is presumptuous.” She warned the bride to provide a wide price range of items, but she wouldn’t listen. She ended up with nothing from her list.
Actually, a registry is a reflection of who you are, she says. “A bride must think ‘Who is coming to my wedding?’ and ask themselves, ‘Are my guests going to think am I a hedonistic girl? A lot of times the other side of the family is learning who she really is from what she chooses. She is making a statement.”
“In southern California we see a incredible level of narcissitic behavior -- they register at REI, they want golf clubs and canoes. What they don’t realize is that they have aunts uncles who are not happy with this hedonistic behavior.“
Even in the 21st century, however, decorum reigns. Most etiquette experts agree that couples should not ask for money, and says if a couple can’t afford a honeymoon to France, they should not ask their guests to pay for it.
Many different cultures do allow the collection of money at the wedding -- guests at a Chinese wedding offer envelopes of cash when the couple visits their table, and Polish brides are pinned with money. Today, many couples often try to return their stash for cash, although many stores are cracking down on this. Websites such as theknot.com allow customers to register for money or Amex checks, (as well as a BMW Roadster); other sites offer downpayment dowries.
Mary T. of Revere was 38 when she decided to get married again. She still has the china and silverware from her first marriage, although that’s in storage, never used. And since her divorce 5 years ago, she and her new fiancé have feathered their nest with the blender, the cappuccino maker, and a whole set of Fiestaware. So when, as a bride to be again, she walked the floors of Crate and Barrel, Macy’s, and other traditional bridal registry stores, she says, “I was underwhelmed. I decided that we really didn’t need more toasters. I was putting things on the list that I really didn’t want.” After some discussion, what she and her future husband decided that they did want was a downpayment. Her mom set up a fund via the FHA Bridal Registry Program at www.hud.gov/bridal.html, which sets up an account with a qualified bank. They ended up with nearly $10,000 for their future home. “I know it sounds tacky, but I’d rather my friends’ gifts went toward something that would really help my fiancé and my life together. In my mind, I think that’s kinda romantic.”
Other Websites to check out for alternative registry ideas: Guild.com, the Madison online art retailer, has launched a bridal gift registry as part of a new effort to make its mark as a company that sells artful home décor; and Amazon.com has geared its registry for the post-china crowd as well. For those who would prefer to send their money to help stop human rights abuses in China, the I Do Foundation (www.idofoundation.org) provides charitable-giving registry options.
Martha Stewart says that if a couple is sharing a home already equipped with china, appliances and so forth, “It is acceptable to register for other things, such as luggage, camping equipment, electronics, CDs, books or decorative items like picture frames, vases or artwork.” Stewart also recommends whimsical theme showers, such as guests bringing an antique teacup for the bride’s future tea parties; holiday-specific heirlooms such as a turkey platter and champagne flutes for New years; or stocking the couple’s wine cellar.
One couple included a blank recipe card in their invitations asking attendees to write a recipe for a successful marriage, rather than give a gift. On indiebride.com, one couple plans to request something along the lines of: “"Because we already have all the material comforts we need, we ask that your only gift to us be your joyful presence at our celebration."
Well…OK. But for many couples Gen Y on up, sometimes the question is: Do we really need to buy china? The answer is usually yes: According to Modern Bride, fine tableware is on 75 percent of all registries.
At Macy’s, Wendy Kirby picked out a Lenox pattern, Federal Platinum bone china, but she told their friends that china was a low priority on their list. Still, she felt pressured to include a pattern. “Some people like to buy traditional gifts. When you’re an older person, they will go off the list if you don’t put traditional things on the list. … We got four place settings – actually, we wanted 12. Occasionally we’ll still get them as gifts, and we’ll buy some pieces occasionally, but we don’t even use our china. Once, on our anniversary.”
Still, her husband’s mother pulls out the china all the time, and they know someday they will pull out theirs, when they’re giving the holiday dinners: “It’s heirloom quality, and timeless.”
Today’s more everyday china is versatile enough to go into the microwave, and yet resist chipping. Brides in their 20s come to Filenes to pick out the brighter colored Royal Dalton and Lenox, says sales associate Yuliana Batista. Adds Filenes bridal consultant Nancy Shea, young couples get the pots and pans and luggage, and ask a lot of questions about what to buy. “They are more handheld – we show them what they need to start a home. Older couples in their 30s already know what they want: the everyday china, like Mikasa and Pfaalgraaf.” She also notices many older couples who at first feel pressured to shop for the china, and then get into it. “They’re getting the finer things they wouldn’t have bought for themselves, like Waterford and special-occasion china. They already have a condo or a home, their careers under way, and they’re looking for better stuff.” Shea reports seeing more older than younger couples getting married, many of whom are setting up online registries by scanning items in the store. “They want to do it fast, do their thing and leave. But they find out they have to come back three or four times.”
Daily Evening Item, Lynn, Mass.
When Wendy Kirby of Swampscott got engaged to Kris, they were in their late 20s and living together. “I had everything, so we didn’t really register,” she recalls. “I don’t think our registries were anything like someone who gets married at 21 or right after college.”
But she registered at the traditional spots: “Macy’s, only because it’s national and we have friends all around the U.S., and Crate and Barrel because it’s inexpensive.”
They wanted to replace the hand-me-downs that filled their home, but they had already had the pots, pans, and kitchenware. “We were both new into our careers, and not making much money; we didn’t have plates that matched.”
They ended up with getting 85 percent of what they registered for: tableware, informal china, silverware that matched, and new sheets, “expensive ones I wouldn’t buy on my own.”
Couples today are living together long before they say ‘I do.’ Or they are getting married for the second, or third. They have the usual registry items already, although some may be trading their Revereware for All-Clad. Others are registering online for honeymoons (check out AfterIDo.com or www.yourhoneymoonregistry.com), or asking for computer equipment, restaurant gift certificates, even tools from Home Depot.
“We had a young girl and her mother come in last week asking to do a bridal registry,” says David Pfeil, a service desk employee at Home Depot in Saugus. “It was a new one on me. I had to get the head cashier to explain it to us. The woman had half the registry picked out by her, and half by her husband.” He picked out items in the tool corral, lawn and garden, and a tractor, while she headed for the home décor and kitchen and bath area of the store. Home Depot does them all the time. “As a guy, you know, I don’t know much about bridal registries, but it’s not a bad idea,” says Pfeil, married 28 years. “I’d be looking for a circular saw or a power screwdriver. Or maybe if they sold golf clubs…”
The notion of the bridal shower can be traced back several centuries when legend has it the daughter of a rich merchant fell in love with a poor man. When her disapproving dad denied a dowry, the sympathetic townspeople ''showered'' them with gifts for their future home. The Victorians echoed the shower idea by placing tiny gifts into an umbrella, which was opened over the bride-to-be. Some of today’s brides are asking to be showered with BMWs at online spots like theknot.com, but most -- about 42 percent of all couples -- register in specialty stores. Couples in the U.S. registered for $27.5 billion worth of gifts, or an average of $6,800 per couple, two years ago. With the Internet shopping becoming commonplace, online gift registries made $1.2 billion in 1998; that’s expected to rise to $17 billion by 2004. That’s because more people are getting married, although the average bride is 28 before she puts on the ring. Nearly a third of Crate and Barrel’s business is in registries.
“The average bride ends up at Crate and Barrel,” says Elsa Pinto-Melikian, founder and CEO of yourweddingregistry.com. “Our brides are not average. They want to make sure they create a gift registry of what is a reflection of who they are, and how their home will look. They register for museum tickets to the Louve, gourmet cooking stores, even for a pure-bred dog.”
She started the California-based brick-and-mortar company when, getting married for the second time, she went to register at Williams Sonoma and found she had everything she wanted. But they had just bought a home, and so she started looking into registering for paint, gardening tools, and plants – “before I knew it, there was no place to go to register. I don’t have china, I don’t use it, doesn’t get used very often. I don’t like not having a choice.”
Pinto-Melikian’s customers have registered for bales of hay for their horse farm, Ace Hardware goods, and West Marine for boating supplies. Couples submit what they want, where they can find it or whether they want the company to find it for them, and yourweddings.com sends out elegant announcement cards to wedding guests, who can in turn access the list online.
“One couple, the only thing they wanted was a computer, for $5,000, so we let them do it, but asked our guests to have fun with it, to purchase it in small, bite-sized pieces -- mouse, keyboard, screen, software – nothing was over $150. The computer was so she could work at home.”
One of her clients created a list whose least-expensive item on her registry list was $800. “Even if your last name is Getty, that is presumptuous.” She warned the bride to provide a wide price range of items, but she wouldn’t listen. She ended up with nothing from her list.
Actually, a registry is a reflection of who you are, she says. “A bride must think ‘Who is coming to my wedding?’ and ask themselves, ‘Are my guests going to think am I a hedonistic girl? A lot of times the other side of the family is learning who she really is from what she chooses. She is making a statement.”
“In southern California we see a incredible level of narcissitic behavior -- they register at REI, they want golf clubs and canoes. What they don’t realize is that they have aunts uncles who are not happy with this hedonistic behavior.“
Even in the 21st century, however, decorum reigns. Most etiquette experts agree that couples should not ask for money, and says if a couple can’t afford a honeymoon to France, they should not ask their guests to pay for it.
Many different cultures do allow the collection of money at the wedding -- guests at a Chinese wedding offer envelopes of cash when the couple visits their table, and Polish brides are pinned with money. Today, many couples often try to return their stash for cash, although many stores are cracking down on this. Websites such as theknot.com allow customers to register for money or Amex checks, (as well as a BMW Roadster); other sites offer downpayment dowries.
Mary T. of Revere was 38 when she decided to get married again. She still has the china and silverware from her first marriage, although that’s in storage, never used. And since her divorce 5 years ago, she and her new fiancé have feathered their nest with the blender, the cappuccino maker, and a whole set of Fiestaware. So when, as a bride to be again, she walked the floors of Crate and Barrel, Macy’s, and other traditional bridal registry stores, she says, “I was underwhelmed. I decided that we really didn’t need more toasters. I was putting things on the list that I really didn’t want.” After some discussion, what she and her future husband decided that they did want was a downpayment. Her mom set up a fund via the FHA Bridal Registry Program at www.hud.gov/bridal.html, which sets up an account with a qualified bank. They ended up with nearly $10,000 for their future home. “I know it sounds tacky, but I’d rather my friends’ gifts went toward something that would really help my fiancé and my life together. In my mind, I think that’s kinda romantic.”
Other Websites to check out for alternative registry ideas: Guild.com, the Madison online art retailer, has launched a bridal gift registry as part of a new effort to make its mark as a company that sells artful home décor; and Amazon.com has geared its registry for the post-china crowd as well. For those who would prefer to send their money to help stop human rights abuses in China, the I Do Foundation (www.idofoundation.org) provides charitable-giving registry options.
Martha Stewart says that if a couple is sharing a home already equipped with china, appliances and so forth, “It is acceptable to register for other things, such as luggage, camping equipment, electronics, CDs, books or decorative items like picture frames, vases or artwork.” Stewart also recommends whimsical theme showers, such as guests bringing an antique teacup for the bride’s future tea parties; holiday-specific heirlooms such as a turkey platter and champagne flutes for New years; or stocking the couple’s wine cellar.
One couple included a blank recipe card in their invitations asking attendees to write a recipe for a successful marriage, rather than give a gift. On indiebride.com, one couple plans to request something along the lines of: “"Because we already have all the material comforts we need, we ask that your only gift to us be your joyful presence at our celebration."
Well…OK. But for many couples Gen Y on up, sometimes the question is: Do we really need to buy china? The answer is usually yes: According to Modern Bride, fine tableware is on 75 percent of all registries.
At Macy’s, Wendy Kirby picked out a Lenox pattern, Federal Platinum bone china, but she told their friends that china was a low priority on their list. Still, she felt pressured to include a pattern. “Some people like to buy traditional gifts. When you’re an older person, they will go off the list if you don’t put traditional things on the list. … We got four place settings – actually, we wanted 12. Occasionally we’ll still get them as gifts, and we’ll buy some pieces occasionally, but we don’t even use our china. Once, on our anniversary.”
Still, her husband’s mother pulls out the china all the time, and they know someday they will pull out theirs, when they’re giving the holiday dinners: “It’s heirloom quality, and timeless.”
Today’s more everyday china is versatile enough to go into the microwave, and yet resist chipping. Brides in their 20s come to Filenes to pick out the brighter colored Royal Dalton and Lenox, says sales associate Yuliana Batista. Adds Filenes bridal consultant Nancy Shea, young couples get the pots and pans and luggage, and ask a lot of questions about what to buy. “They are more handheld – we show them what they need to start a home. Older couples in their 30s already know what they want: the everyday china, like Mikasa and Pfaalgraaf.” She also notices many older couples who at first feel pressured to shop for the china, and then get into it. “They’re getting the finer things they wouldn’t have bought for themselves, like Waterford and special-occasion china. They already have a condo or a home, their careers under way, and they’re looking for better stuff.” Shea reports seeing more older than younger couples getting married, many of whom are setting up online registries by scanning items in the store. “They want to do it fast, do their thing and leave. But they find out they have to come back three or four times.”
Monday, June 24, 2002
In yoga, some like it hot
By Sandra Miller
Daily Evening Item
The windows of the Yoga Passions studio were steaming up, and the 8:30 a.m. Saturday class hadn’t even started. As students filed into the 90-degree room, instructor Peter Skivlas asked them, “Did you drink your 32-ounces of water?” which they are supposed to drink 15 minutes before the start of the Bikram Yoga class.
The studio in front has people of all ages and sizes streaming in at 8 a.m. Saturday, a half-hour before class, to find their space, take off their shoes, flex, drink, chat, do some stretching in the heated room, and drink their water.
The front of the office features Fresh Samantha juices, Power bars, and a case of books and yoga mats for sale. At the desk, Skivlas, the barefoot, shaved-headed instructor, is tall, thin and muscular, dressed only in tight black shorts. He says to one student who signed up for unlimited visits, “I’m glad you took the bull by the horns.” As others sign in, he asks, “How much water did you consume in the last ½ hour?” Water is important in Bikram, because you’ll be sweating most of it out during the next 90 minutes.
Bikram is a style of yoga, designed by Bikram Choudhury of India, consisting of a series of 26 poses performed in a room heated between 90 and 100 degrees. The heat warms your muscles up, increasing flexibility and circulation.
The studio itself features soft lighting, and an entire wall lined with mirrors. We lay a towel above a yoga mat on the carpeted floor, and sit before a mirrored wall and Peter Skivlas, the instructor. The class starts with breathing rhythmically and deeply, so you can hear it in the back of your throat. “Your own breathing sets a rhythm not only for class, but for the whole weekend,” he says.
As the class gets into more strenuous moves, the more everyone is dripping with sweat. One move, which involves gripping my knees to my chest, is difficult because I’m, well, slippery. In others, when I don’t reach the full stretch, Peter comes over and helps me achieve it. We’re asked to push ourselves; when a woman talks to her friend, Skivlas scolds her -- “Danielle, if you can talk to your friend, you aren’t giving it your full effort.”
The sweating feels good, because I feel as though my body is cleansing itself of toxins. Lactic acid flows through my body instead of stalling within my limbs. However, after only 20 minutes, I’m winded, and apparently I don’t look pleased. “There is no saber-tooth tiger in the room, Sandra,” Skivlas teases me. “This is a humbling experience for one and all. The more you come, the easier it gets, and the more you feel the calm within yourself that is unmistakable.”
We are told we can work at our own level, but by the 45 minute mark, I’m feeling dizzy and a bit nauseous, and so I lay on the floor a lot, and so do a couple others. When I get up to, um, expel some of that 32 ounces of water, he urges me to keep working, but I insist. A few others do the same, and he tells the class that in some Bikram workouts, they lock the room so you can’t do bathroom or water-fillup breaks. “We aren’t as strict here,” he says, but also urges us to bring larger water bottles next time.
The end of the class we lay on the floor to relax, and we can stay there as long as we’d like. I am exhausted, and stay longer than the veterans, but I feel energized, too. There are no showers, so I go outside for air, and it’s like leaving a swimming pool. Everyone is smiling. Everyone seems to feel great. Later, when I’m home, I feel an overwhelming need for a nap.
As it turns out, the dizziness, nausea and sleepiness are normal reactions, sort of an alarm telling me that I need to drink more water, and that my body has begun to cleanse itself.
“The yoga is designed to bring your being back into balance. If you have been running on adrenaline ... pushing yourself ... if you have engaged in activities overloading the body with toxins such as caffeine, sugar, alcohol, whatever, emotional plaque, etc. your body might naturally want some integration time after your class.”
He adds, “People respond differently to Bikram yoga. Some people have so much energy they undertake long-neglected cleaning projects around the house. Others need to nap more in the early phase of their practice. The key is to come to at least 2-3 classes per week to build up some momentum. If you are saying you can’t, that’s what you get back. We try to get you to say, ‘I can, I can, I can.’”
Yoga and meditation helped Skivlas gain energy and focus. A Peabody native, Skivlas was a school athlete, but in his teens his grades started slipping. A Merv Griffin show featuring meditation changed his life, however; his anger decreased, his grades improved, and he graduated in 1979 from Peabody High. He earned a degree in philosophy from Northeastern University, and studied yoga with the Tibetan Lama when he was 20. He learned and taught for several years at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the Berkshires. When Bikram came to Kripalu, Stivlas and the other staffers were blown away. “It was hard, but it was like when Bob Dylan plugged in his guitar and went electric. It was intense.”
Skivlas opened up Yoga Passion 3 years ago, which he calls a sanctuary currently for about 800 students. Since May 23, the studio has been running a challenge – anyone who attends a bikram session every day for 30 days gets a free month of classes. About 15 have signed on so far.
“I have never felt better, both physically and mentally,” says one challenger, Tracy Camarro, 36, a registered nurse who previously taught aerobics for 18 years and trained with weights for 13. She started doing Bikram in March, and reports losing body fat, and gaining muscle definition, strength and flexibility. “Because I’m using my own strength, I feel with this workout the challenge will always be there. I do not feel the need to supplement with any other form of exercise -- I believe it to be a total body and mind workout.”
Another challenge participant is Russian-born Henry Domnich, 55, of Revere, who had been doing Bikram for 40 days straight. He does a lot of work on the computer, so he came to Yoga Passions to ease the chronic tension around his neck and eyes.
“I really had to force myself, I had to clench my teeth. But I feel like I’m finally breathing. Otherwise, I hold my breath. I have seen a huge improvement. I’m becoming more firm, definitely.”
kivlas recalls Domnich’s first few classes: “He was more nervous, more jumpy, and had a hard time focusing. He would talk in the class. Today, I see a radiance in his skin and eyes.” But, he cautions, “No one will master yoga in 30 years, or ever. It’s about the journey. Henry knew it would not be a quick fix. Henry is not some sort of genetically well-suited yogi. Henry and our many yoga studio members enjoy the benefits of yoga because they stick with it.””
He did recall one client who had experienced nerve damage and memory loss from brain surgery; after four months, her husband came in to shake Skivlas’ hand to thank him for his wife’s recovery. “I don’t see her anymore. I think she should keep trying.”
Nationwide, many devotees claim Bikram has helped them get off insulin, drugs, and alcohol, and ease everything from back pain, anemia, weight loss, and migraines to emphysema, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, even your complexion.
“ Your body is dynamic,” Skivlas says. “If it is contracted and chronically tense, then you are walking around with emotional flak jackets. The endocrine system will get weaker or it will get stronger. We can heal our own bodies. One woman was about to lose her thyroid gland, now she’s been off the meds she’s been taking for 10 years. We get a lot of golfers. They say it helps them with their golf game so much, because it helps with stress relief.”
But Skivlas stresses that yoga is more about the spiritual journey.
“This opens people up psychologically and physically,” he says “It’s not what you do. The person has to feel they are so worthwhile, so loved, that requires a whole change of consciousness. Many people work out not because they love their bodies, but because they hate it. What kind of messages are they sending to the world, to their children?”
As part of its commitment to children, Yoga Passion is starting a play care program in the back, so parents will be able to work out; teacher Mary Grace Conti is teaching yoga to children, including Bikram, although they won’t achieve the same benefits because they lack sweat glands. But the idea is to pass along healthy attitudes about their bodies and peer pressure.
Conti has been doing Bikram yoga for 2 ½ years. Before, she worked out daily at the gym, working up a sweat, yet she suffered from what she calls “the cold-hands, warm-heart syndrome. Basically, I was always cold. It must have been a thyroid imbalance.” A certified nutritionist, she took herbal supplements and medicines to remedy it, but after trying Bikram, she says, “I have left all of that behind. I have learned it isn’t what you take, or even what you eat. It is how you think, how your body’s energy circulates, how you feel, and more than anything, it is moving my body and sweating hard.”
She began doing it every day, and the class helped her not only with her cold hands, but also to end a bad relationship, and to switch careers. “I found out who I was by looking in the mirror every day. It wasn’t who the clothes hid, or the outward toys that made me - there I was, bare and naked, just me. Kinda like how I came into the world, a little wet, a little slimy, very intense.”
She has been teaching at Yoga Passions for more than a year, and now enjoys seeing others’ “transformations.” Says Conti, “I see tri-athletes come in, their tough strong frame, and within the first 10 minutes, they too are as winded as the arthritic ladies who come to yoga so they can sleep with less pain.” She calls the studio “the rehab for runners.”
Conti and Skivlas see little miracles every day at their studio.
Kara Ritchie had arrived to class limping from rheumatoid arthritis, but wore a big smile. Ritchie, 31, a bank examiner from Beverly, had working out regularly at the gym, but when she was diagnosed last summer with rheumatoid arthritis, she tried everything. She was taking dozens of powerful medicines, including steroids, but the swelling never went away, and the medicine was making her sick. Then she read an article about a Cambridge woman battling rheumatoid arthritis who had success with Bikram.
“At Yoga Passions, Peter told me that it would be work and I would have to come as much as possible, but if I was persistent, it would help me.” She has been coming about 3 times a week since January, and has been off her meds for two months. “I try my best though and keep at it. I have noticed that after each class I feel better -- mentally and physically.” And she left the class without limping. “The swelling goes down so much that I actually can walk, especially up and downstairs with little pain. If I don’t go to class regularly, I can tell - my joints are much stiffer and more painful.”
For beginners, Yoga Passion is offering a coupon -- $15 for as many classes as you can take in 10 days. Call 978-750-8866, www.yogapassion.com
Daily Evening Item
The windows of the Yoga Passions studio were steaming up, and the 8:30 a.m. Saturday class hadn’t even started. As students filed into the 90-degree room, instructor Peter Skivlas asked them, “Did you drink your 32-ounces of water?” which they are supposed to drink 15 minutes before the start of the Bikram Yoga class.
The studio in front has people of all ages and sizes streaming in at 8 a.m. Saturday, a half-hour before class, to find their space, take off their shoes, flex, drink, chat, do some stretching in the heated room, and drink their water.
The front of the office features Fresh Samantha juices, Power bars, and a case of books and yoga mats for sale. At the desk, Skivlas, the barefoot, shaved-headed instructor, is tall, thin and muscular, dressed only in tight black shorts. He says to one student who signed up for unlimited visits, “I’m glad you took the bull by the horns.” As others sign in, he asks, “How much water did you consume in the last ½ hour?” Water is important in Bikram, because you’ll be sweating most of it out during the next 90 minutes.
Bikram is a style of yoga, designed by Bikram Choudhury of India, consisting of a series of 26 poses performed in a room heated between 90 and 100 degrees. The heat warms your muscles up, increasing flexibility and circulation.
The studio itself features soft lighting, and an entire wall lined with mirrors. We lay a towel above a yoga mat on the carpeted floor, and sit before a mirrored wall and Peter Skivlas, the instructor. The class starts with breathing rhythmically and deeply, so you can hear it in the back of your throat. “Your own breathing sets a rhythm not only for class, but for the whole weekend,” he says.
As the class gets into more strenuous moves, the more everyone is dripping with sweat. One move, which involves gripping my knees to my chest, is difficult because I’m, well, slippery. In others, when I don’t reach the full stretch, Peter comes over and helps me achieve it. We’re asked to push ourselves; when a woman talks to her friend, Skivlas scolds her -- “Danielle, if you can talk to your friend, you aren’t giving it your full effort.”
The sweating feels good, because I feel as though my body is cleansing itself of toxins. Lactic acid flows through my body instead of stalling within my limbs. However, after only 20 minutes, I’m winded, and apparently I don’t look pleased. “There is no saber-tooth tiger in the room, Sandra,” Skivlas teases me. “This is a humbling experience for one and all. The more you come, the easier it gets, and the more you feel the calm within yourself that is unmistakable.”
We are told we can work at our own level, but by the 45 minute mark, I’m feeling dizzy and a bit nauseous, and so I lay on the floor a lot, and so do a couple others. When I get up to, um, expel some of that 32 ounces of water, he urges me to keep working, but I insist. A few others do the same, and he tells the class that in some Bikram workouts, they lock the room so you can’t do bathroom or water-fillup breaks. “We aren’t as strict here,” he says, but also urges us to bring larger water bottles next time.
The end of the class we lay on the floor to relax, and we can stay there as long as we’d like. I am exhausted, and stay longer than the veterans, but I feel energized, too. There are no showers, so I go outside for air, and it’s like leaving a swimming pool. Everyone is smiling. Everyone seems to feel great. Later, when I’m home, I feel an overwhelming need for a nap.
As it turns out, the dizziness, nausea and sleepiness are normal reactions, sort of an alarm telling me that I need to drink more water, and that my body has begun to cleanse itself.
“The yoga is designed to bring your being back into balance. If you have been running on adrenaline ... pushing yourself ... if you have engaged in activities overloading the body with toxins such as caffeine, sugar, alcohol, whatever, emotional plaque, etc. your body might naturally want some integration time after your class.”
He adds, “People respond differently to Bikram yoga. Some people have so much energy they undertake long-neglected cleaning projects around the house. Others need to nap more in the early phase of their practice. The key is to come to at least 2-3 classes per week to build up some momentum. If you are saying you can’t, that’s what you get back. We try to get you to say, ‘I can, I can, I can.’”
Yoga and meditation helped Skivlas gain energy and focus. A Peabody native, Skivlas was a school athlete, but in his teens his grades started slipping. A Merv Griffin show featuring meditation changed his life, however; his anger decreased, his grades improved, and he graduated in 1979 from Peabody High. He earned a degree in philosophy from Northeastern University, and studied yoga with the Tibetan Lama when he was 20. He learned and taught for several years at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the Berkshires. When Bikram came to Kripalu, Stivlas and the other staffers were blown away. “It was hard, but it was like when Bob Dylan plugged in his guitar and went electric. It was intense.”
Skivlas opened up Yoga Passion 3 years ago, which he calls a sanctuary currently for about 800 students. Since May 23, the studio has been running a challenge – anyone who attends a bikram session every day for 30 days gets a free month of classes. About 15 have signed on so far.
“I have never felt better, both physically and mentally,” says one challenger, Tracy Camarro, 36, a registered nurse who previously taught aerobics for 18 years and trained with weights for 13. She started doing Bikram in March, and reports losing body fat, and gaining muscle definition, strength and flexibility. “Because I’m using my own strength, I feel with this workout the challenge will always be there. I do not feel the need to supplement with any other form of exercise -- I believe it to be a total body and mind workout.”
Another challenge participant is Russian-born Henry Domnich, 55, of Revere, who had been doing Bikram for 40 days straight. He does a lot of work on the computer, so he came to Yoga Passions to ease the chronic tension around his neck and eyes.
“I really had to force myself, I had to clench my teeth. But I feel like I’m finally breathing. Otherwise, I hold my breath. I have seen a huge improvement. I’m becoming more firm, definitely.”
kivlas recalls Domnich’s first few classes: “He was more nervous, more jumpy, and had a hard time focusing. He would talk in the class. Today, I see a radiance in his skin and eyes.” But, he cautions, “No one will master yoga in 30 years, or ever. It’s about the journey. Henry knew it would not be a quick fix. Henry is not some sort of genetically well-suited yogi. Henry and our many yoga studio members enjoy the benefits of yoga because they stick with it.””
He did recall one client who had experienced nerve damage and memory loss from brain surgery; after four months, her husband came in to shake Skivlas’ hand to thank him for his wife’s recovery. “I don’t see her anymore. I think she should keep trying.”
Nationwide, many devotees claim Bikram has helped them get off insulin, drugs, and alcohol, and ease everything from back pain, anemia, weight loss, and migraines to emphysema, hemorrhoids, varicose veins, even your complexion.
“ Your body is dynamic,” Skivlas says. “If it is contracted and chronically tense, then you are walking around with emotional flak jackets. The endocrine system will get weaker or it will get stronger. We can heal our own bodies. One woman was about to lose her thyroid gland, now she’s been off the meds she’s been taking for 10 years. We get a lot of golfers. They say it helps them with their golf game so much, because it helps with stress relief.”
But Skivlas stresses that yoga is more about the spiritual journey.
“This opens people up psychologically and physically,” he says “It’s not what you do. The person has to feel they are so worthwhile, so loved, that requires a whole change of consciousness. Many people work out not because they love their bodies, but because they hate it. What kind of messages are they sending to the world, to their children?”
As part of its commitment to children, Yoga Passion is starting a play care program in the back, so parents will be able to work out; teacher Mary Grace Conti is teaching yoga to children, including Bikram, although they won’t achieve the same benefits because they lack sweat glands. But the idea is to pass along healthy attitudes about their bodies and peer pressure.
Conti has been doing Bikram yoga for 2 ½ years. Before, she worked out daily at the gym, working up a sweat, yet she suffered from what she calls “the cold-hands, warm-heart syndrome. Basically, I was always cold. It must have been a thyroid imbalance.” A certified nutritionist, she took herbal supplements and medicines to remedy it, but after trying Bikram, she says, “I have left all of that behind. I have learned it isn’t what you take, or even what you eat. It is how you think, how your body’s energy circulates, how you feel, and more than anything, it is moving my body and sweating hard.”
She began doing it every day, and the class helped her not only with her cold hands, but also to end a bad relationship, and to switch careers. “I found out who I was by looking in the mirror every day. It wasn’t who the clothes hid, or the outward toys that made me - there I was, bare and naked, just me. Kinda like how I came into the world, a little wet, a little slimy, very intense.”
She has been teaching at Yoga Passions for more than a year, and now enjoys seeing others’ “transformations.” Says Conti, “I see tri-athletes come in, their tough strong frame, and within the first 10 minutes, they too are as winded as the arthritic ladies who come to yoga so they can sleep with less pain.” She calls the studio “the rehab for runners.”
Conti and Skivlas see little miracles every day at their studio.
Kara Ritchie had arrived to class limping from rheumatoid arthritis, but wore a big smile. Ritchie, 31, a bank examiner from Beverly, had working out regularly at the gym, but when she was diagnosed last summer with rheumatoid arthritis, she tried everything. She was taking dozens of powerful medicines, including steroids, but the swelling never went away, and the medicine was making her sick. Then she read an article about a Cambridge woman battling rheumatoid arthritis who had success with Bikram.
“At Yoga Passions, Peter told me that it would be work and I would have to come as much as possible, but if I was persistent, it would help me.” She has been coming about 3 times a week since January, and has been off her meds for two months. “I try my best though and keep at it. I have noticed that after each class I feel better -- mentally and physically.” And she left the class without limping. “The swelling goes down so much that I actually can walk, especially up and downstairs with little pain. If I don’t go to class regularly, I can tell - my joints are much stiffer and more painful.”
For beginners, Yoga Passion is offering a coupon -- $15 for as many classes as you can take in 10 days. Call 978-750-8866, www.yogapassion.com
Tuesday, May 14, 2002
Woman of the House
By Sandra Miller
Daily Evening Item
Sometimes a woman’s place is in the home. Lugging a ladder and toting an inspector’s list, that is.
House inspector Bridget McGuiness runs Corrosion Check Inc. out of her Lynn home, and has been in the environmental and inspection business since 1982. One of only 10 women inspectors in the state, her line of work takes her into places both men and women dare not to tread: musty crawlspaces, spooky attics, and damp basements.
In one house, she noticed a basement crawlspace that dropped from 4’ in height to about 2’ in height, and inside it was dark, damp, and full of spider webs. She had a hunch that it was worth checking out, and after some messy crawling around, she discovered that in one the area of the foundation, several feet of sill was significantly rotted from years of water pooling on the outside of the house. “A contractor estimated the damage would cost about $20,000 to repair. I believe the seller agreed to pay for the repair. My buyer was happy.” Even better, she gained another surprise customer: the seller. “His inspector hadn’t caught the damage when he did the inspection. The seller then hired me to inspect the house he was buying.”
She finds that many won’t hire her because she’s a woman, but other times they will hire her because of her gender. “Some people feel that a woman will be more thorough or easier to talk to. I’m pretty thorough in the work I do, and I probably am more thorough, from what my clients have told me, than some of the inspectors they see. This often translates into longer inspection times than they’re used to.”
That often translates into being more popular among buyer agents, whose job is to find a thorough inspector, not an easy one. “Realtors say ‘I’ve worked so long in this business, and I’ve never seen a woman inspector.’”
She has worked in male-dominated industries for almost all of her work life. She received a degree in civil engineering from Worcester Polytech Institute where the ratio was 8 men to every woman. Her first job was for the U.S. EPA as the Region 1 NESHAP asbestos standard coordinator. “The contractors were all men, and older than me – and a lot of them didn’t like compliance specialists anyway, so being a woman engineer was tough. Our job was to crack down on a lot of the contractors who were pretty sleazy. So I got some attitude from the contractors.”
She became her own boss, first doing asbestos management consulting, and then thousands of hours of training later, doing environmental consulting, training and home inspections.
“I am mostly used to the flak I get as a woman doing engineering/inspection work. I sometimes feel that people feel more entitled to challenge my knowledge or skills because I am a woman.” But she finds she can hold her own among all the testosterone. “I have a strong personality, so I don’t come off as someone who can be pushed to the side.”
Many of her clients are women who are first-time homebuyers, and appreciate hiring someone who will take the time to explain how something functions, and what to expect in coming years. She provides free estimates, and also does lead, radon, and asbestos testing. She’s a big advocate of clients educating themselves about what makes their house – or potential house -- warm, their water hot, their pipes flowing, their switches on, their house sturdy. “That way, as you attend open houses, you may be able to bypass houses that require more work than what you can afford, given the cost of the house and immediate or near future repair or replacement expenses,” says McGuiness. She also offers classes to homeowners wanting to learn how to create a safer home.
She has many happy customers, and so much of her customer base comes from word of mouth. “I’m happy to do whatever it takes for the client,” she says. In return, she says, “I’m not doing the same thing every day. Overall, I really love my job.”
McGuiness was born to the job, growing up in an old Victorian in Worcester with two parents who were exacting, thorough and precise, great qualities for a home inspector to inherit. An athlete in high school who was also good in science and math, she paid attention when her mother warned, “If you don’t get a career, you’ll have to go to nursing school.” Recalls McGuiness, “I said, ‘Oh no!’”
She adds, “Both of my parents instilled in us that we could do whatever we wanted to, that we were smart and if we worked really hard we’d do ok.” Her father went to engineering school at night and did corrosion prevention work on utilities’ pipes. She was pretty handy around the house as a kid, helping with interior painting, tinkering with cars, and following her father to the hardware store. She also followed her brother into WPI, as did her sister. Her brother became a doctor, and her sister a nuclear engineer.
Inheriting the name of her father’s business, Corrosion Check, today she is a nationally recognized expert in asbestos field, often being called for expert witness work in cases for the Department of Justice, and for U.S. attorneys in New York and Connecticut.
McGuiness, 42, lives near the ocean in Lynn with her partner, Margot Ables, in a 90-year-old 9-room Victorian-style home that benefits from having a handy owner. She updated the boiler, painted the interior, refinished the wood floors, built a new patio and did some landscaping, although she’ll hire professionals for the roof and electrical system. “I’m more the hammer wielder,” says McGuiness. “Margot’s more of the interior design person, and she handles the finances.” McGuiness’ mom keeps the business’ books.
Ironically, she didn’t inspect her own home when she bought it; she felt that “If anything was significantly I didn’t want the buyer to think I was making it up just to knock the price down.” She hired her mentor, home inspector Ernie Simpson, and Bob Caldwell, her teacher at Northeastern University’s inspector certification program, for field inspection.
“I kept my distance during my home inspection, but Ernie basically did the inspection the way I do them, outside and inside. He took me aside to explain a few things that went beyond what he’d tell someone else buying a house. The big issues were electrical service panel overfusing, and the roof was pretty obvious.”
Simpson and Caldwell were like mentors to her, and she thinks about mentoring someone herself, especially women. “At my last count, the state had issued 532 home inspector licenses,” she says. “Women hold about 10 of those licenses. That in my opinion is a remarkably poor statistic. This is a very white, very male-dominated field.”
However, she finds she’s too busy to do much about this now; plus, taking on an apprentice makes her vulnerable to tricky laws. “You carry their liability forever. They can say ‘You never taught me that.’ That’s what’s unfortunate with this industry.”
Perhaps it’s the crawling around musty basements that turn off a lot of women to the trade, or perhaps it’s the often strenuous turns the job takes. McGuiness is active at the gym and on her bike, which “helps when I have to heave the ladders and go into crawl spaces.”
She adds, “The toughest part of my job is the paperwork.”
Daily Evening Item
Sometimes a woman’s place is in the home. Lugging a ladder and toting an inspector’s list, that is.
House inspector Bridget McGuiness runs Corrosion Check Inc. out of her Lynn home, and has been in the environmental and inspection business since 1982. One of only 10 women inspectors in the state, her line of work takes her into places both men and women dare not to tread: musty crawlspaces, spooky attics, and damp basements.
In one house, she noticed a basement crawlspace that dropped from 4’ in height to about 2’ in height, and inside it was dark, damp, and full of spider webs. She had a hunch that it was worth checking out, and after some messy crawling around, she discovered that in one the area of the foundation, several feet of sill was significantly rotted from years of water pooling on the outside of the house. “A contractor estimated the damage would cost about $20,000 to repair. I believe the seller agreed to pay for the repair. My buyer was happy.” Even better, she gained another surprise customer: the seller. “His inspector hadn’t caught the damage when he did the inspection. The seller then hired me to inspect the house he was buying.”
She finds that many won’t hire her because she’s a woman, but other times they will hire her because of her gender. “Some people feel that a woman will be more thorough or easier to talk to. I’m pretty thorough in the work I do, and I probably am more thorough, from what my clients have told me, than some of the inspectors they see. This often translates into longer inspection times than they’re used to.”
That often translates into being more popular among buyer agents, whose job is to find a thorough inspector, not an easy one. “Realtors say ‘I’ve worked so long in this business, and I’ve never seen a woman inspector.’”
She has worked in male-dominated industries for almost all of her work life. She received a degree in civil engineering from Worcester Polytech Institute where the ratio was 8 men to every woman. Her first job was for the U.S. EPA as the Region 1 NESHAP asbestos standard coordinator. “The contractors were all men, and older than me – and a lot of them didn’t like compliance specialists anyway, so being a woman engineer was tough. Our job was to crack down on a lot of the contractors who were pretty sleazy. So I got some attitude from the contractors.”
She became her own boss, first doing asbestos management consulting, and then thousands of hours of training later, doing environmental consulting, training and home inspections.
“I am mostly used to the flak I get as a woman doing engineering/inspection work. I sometimes feel that people feel more entitled to challenge my knowledge or skills because I am a woman.” But she finds she can hold her own among all the testosterone. “I have a strong personality, so I don’t come off as someone who can be pushed to the side.”
Many of her clients are women who are first-time homebuyers, and appreciate hiring someone who will take the time to explain how something functions, and what to expect in coming years. She provides free estimates, and also does lead, radon, and asbestos testing. She’s a big advocate of clients educating themselves about what makes their house – or potential house -- warm, their water hot, their pipes flowing, their switches on, their house sturdy. “That way, as you attend open houses, you may be able to bypass houses that require more work than what you can afford, given the cost of the house and immediate or near future repair or replacement expenses,” says McGuiness. She also offers classes to homeowners wanting to learn how to create a safer home.
She has many happy customers, and so much of her customer base comes from word of mouth. “I’m happy to do whatever it takes for the client,” she says. In return, she says, “I’m not doing the same thing every day. Overall, I really love my job.”
McGuiness was born to the job, growing up in an old Victorian in Worcester with two parents who were exacting, thorough and precise, great qualities for a home inspector to inherit. An athlete in high school who was also good in science and math, she paid attention when her mother warned, “If you don’t get a career, you’ll have to go to nursing school.” Recalls McGuiness, “I said, ‘Oh no!’”
She adds, “Both of my parents instilled in us that we could do whatever we wanted to, that we were smart and if we worked really hard we’d do ok.” Her father went to engineering school at night and did corrosion prevention work on utilities’ pipes. She was pretty handy around the house as a kid, helping with interior painting, tinkering with cars, and following her father to the hardware store. She also followed her brother into WPI, as did her sister. Her brother became a doctor, and her sister a nuclear engineer.
Inheriting the name of her father’s business, Corrosion Check, today she is a nationally recognized expert in asbestos field, often being called for expert witness work in cases for the Department of Justice, and for U.S. attorneys in New York and Connecticut.
McGuiness, 42, lives near the ocean in Lynn with her partner, Margot Ables, in a 90-year-old 9-room Victorian-style home that benefits from having a handy owner. She updated the boiler, painted the interior, refinished the wood floors, built a new patio and did some landscaping, although she’ll hire professionals for the roof and electrical system. “I’m more the hammer wielder,” says McGuiness. “Margot’s more of the interior design person, and she handles the finances.” McGuiness’ mom keeps the business’ books.
Ironically, she didn’t inspect her own home when she bought it; she felt that “If anything was significantly I didn’t want the buyer to think I was making it up just to knock the price down.” She hired her mentor, home inspector Ernie Simpson, and Bob Caldwell, her teacher at Northeastern University’s inspector certification program, for field inspection.
“I kept my distance during my home inspection, but Ernie basically did the inspection the way I do them, outside and inside. He took me aside to explain a few things that went beyond what he’d tell someone else buying a house. The big issues were electrical service panel overfusing, and the roof was pretty obvious.”
Simpson and Caldwell were like mentors to her, and she thinks about mentoring someone herself, especially women. “At my last count, the state had issued 532 home inspector licenses,” she says. “Women hold about 10 of those licenses. That in my opinion is a remarkably poor statistic. This is a very white, very male-dominated field.”
However, she finds she’s too busy to do much about this now; plus, taking on an apprentice makes her vulnerable to tricky laws. “You carry their liability forever. They can say ‘You never taught me that.’ That’s what’s unfortunate with this industry.”
Perhaps it’s the crawling around musty basements that turn off a lot of women to the trade, or perhaps it’s the often strenuous turns the job takes. McGuiness is active at the gym and on her bike, which “helps when I have to heave the ladders and go into crawl spaces.”
She adds, “The toughest part of my job is the paperwork.”
Thursday, April 25, 2002
A beginner’s guide to retirement
By Sandra Miller
Daily Evening Item
More than half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 and a quarter of those aged 35-54 have not begun to save for retirement, according to reports. Perhaps those people behind the statistics reasoned that when they first entered the workforce, it was more important to buy furniture for the new apartment. Then it was time to get married, buy a house, have kids, start an education fund, get a bigger car, take the kids to Disney World … and when things settled down, that’s when they would start putting money into their retirement. But that’s a bad spot to be in if you’re 20 years or less from retirement.
If you want to retire comfortably, and have accepted that you most likely are not going to win the lottery, then it’s time to take control of your destiny, preferably yesterday. Social Security will most likely provide for the basics: groceries, shelter and a little clothing, but not much else.
The problem with Social Security is that it is about to be crushed by the number of baby boomers nearing retirement. When Social Security was established in 1935, the system worked because the average life expectancy was 62. Today’s medical miracles are keeping us alive 30 years after retirement age. You do the math. Oh, you haven’t, and that’s why you’re reading this article.
This article won’t do the math for you; instead, it’s to get you thinking about your retirement plan, or lack thereof. So how much does the average person need to retire? It’s hard to predict how much a person who is 40 today will need at 70, but if you use current inflation figures, many reports are saying you should have at least a million dollars in the bank before retiring. A million dollars?
“I have clients with portfolios that large,” says David Whelan Jr., CPA, who is president of Eaglerock Investment Strategies Inc. in Swampscott. “However, the vast majority of people are not heading in that direction.”
Set your goals
Your goal is to avoid living out your retirement years with a cat food diet and a social calendar consisting of watching TV on a tattered recliner. However, you should also expect to live more frugally.
One rule of thumb is that you’ll at least 75 percent of your current income. “It depends on lifestyle, if a client wants to travel around the world once a year, if golf is in somebody’s plans,” says Whelan. “But people who retire at 65 can conceivably live another 20 years, so whatever people set aside needs to last that long.” Also factor in medical expenses not covered by Medicare; retirement community or assisted living costs; and helping out any family members in need.
Expect to contribute a minimum of 5 percent if you’re in your 20s, at least 7 to 10 percent in your 30s, and 15 to 20 percent if you’re just starting to save for retirement in your 40s and 50s.
“I’d tell my 35-year-old best friend to pick a portfolio of well diversified mutual funds, put as much as he could into it, and not do anything with it,” says Whelan. “He will be very happy in 20 years.” As you near retirement, shift more of your retirement nest egg into more stable bonds to ride out another economic downturn.
However, there will be some hard choices to make.
“The 40-something crowd is dealing with planning for retirement and their children’s education, which is often competing for the same dollars,” says Whelan. He and many other financial planners urge that your retirement takes priority. Worst case, junior can get loans or go to a fine state school. You aren’t being selfish – you are trying to protect your kids from having to care for you when you’re older and penniless.
On the other hand, you can use those Section 529 education savings accounts for yourself – name yourself the beneficiary and use those funds in your retirement for tuition, fees, supplies, books, room and board to study literature in London, or learn Italian in Rome.
Also, some plans will let you borrow from the account balance for a downpayment, education expenses, emergency medical expenses and disability.
Diversify your savings
Workplaces will offer a 401 (k), Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), pensions, annuities, or Keogh, and if you’re lucky your employer will contribute to it. You’ll then have Social Security and savings.
Many Polaroid employees are looking at empty retirement accounts; meanwhile, many who thought they could retire soon are looking at mutual funds sagging from the economic downturn. The key to safer investing is diversification – don’t put all your eggs into one basket.
“In a 401K the biggest mistake people can make with Polaroid and Enron is having 100 percent of your portfolio in one stock,” says Whelan, who recommends no more than 10 percent in any single company.
However, this is also a time to be brave. “I think the biggest concern I have these days is hearing people say that investing in the market these days isn’t safe; but historically it is still the best way to save for retirement,” says Whelan. “People have to keep the discipline and focus.”
General Electric worker Joe Cahill of Lynn has been setting aside 7 to 10 percent of his salary since he started 26 years ago, and he is fully invested in his GE pension. His 401(k) consists of all GE stock, and GE matches up to 7 percent. Considering what happened at Polaroid, he adds nervously, “I have to do something about that. But GE is somewhat like a mutual fund, because they are so diversified. And they’ve done really well in the past 5 or 10 years.”
“When I was younger I never thought I’d get to the point where I’d be in retirement,” says Cahill, who now finds himself listening to financial programs on talk radio for advice. “I feel most people retire into poverty.”
Good financial planning also includes investing in non-tax-sheltered mutual funds, preferably with no custodial fees and no commissions, called loads. “There are some real good no-load mutual funds out there – Janus and Vanguard offer a couple of investment families that have no-load products,” says Whelan.
You may also want to tune up your retirement planning with a well-recommended certified financial planner. A planner charges about one to two percent of the portfolio, up front or based on commission.
“We’re an independent firm,” says Whelan about his Eaglerock services. “We have in excess of a thousand funds available. If you go to Smith Barney you’re apt to end up with Smith Barney funds. Some people work on a fee basis, a lot of it is commission-driven. Nothing is for nothing.”
Sandra Miller is a freelance writer. She is hoping that her Partridge Family lunch box and original Star Wars figurines will fund a comfy retirement.
Sidebar: Last-minute retirement fixes
If you’re nearing retirement age and didn’t save enough:
• Extend your planned retirement age. Plan for a second career that you can foresee yourself doing past 70, even if only part-time. Take advantage of 401(k) plans or health benefits.
• Turn a hobby into income. Golfers can skip the fees in exchange for a part-time job on the greens. Sell your baked goods to the local grocery store.
• Consider a reverse mortgage, where you get a monthly income while building a loan balance against your home equity.
• Maintain your health. Stop smoking (you’ll save loads of cash), exercise (walking is free!), keep your weight down (save on groceries). Eat less meat (veggies are cheaper, and cholesterol takes its toll). Brush and floss daily (or are dentures cheaper in the long run?)
• Look for cheaper cable and Internet plans. Better yet, cancel those services and volunteer your time. (Bonus: A social life.)
• Buy a multi-family home that generates rental income, or take in a boarder.
• Barter your babysitting and cooking skills for a bedroom and kitchen space in your kid’s home.
Resources:
Some good books for beginners:
• “Personal Finance For Dummies,” By Eric Tyson
• ”The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom” by Suze Orman
• “On Your Own: A Widow's Passage to Emotional and Financial Well-Being,”
Alexandra Armstrong
• 25 Myths You've Got to Avoid If You Want to Manage Your Money Right: The New Rules for Financial Success, Jonathan Clements
Websites:
• www.Motleyfool.com
• www.bankrate.com
www.quicken.com
• Social Security benefits calculator: www.ssa.gov/retire/calculators
Daily Evening Item
More than half of Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 and a quarter of those aged 35-54 have not begun to save for retirement, according to reports. Perhaps those people behind the statistics reasoned that when they first entered the workforce, it was more important to buy furniture for the new apartment. Then it was time to get married, buy a house, have kids, start an education fund, get a bigger car, take the kids to Disney World … and when things settled down, that’s when they would start putting money into their retirement. But that’s a bad spot to be in if you’re 20 years or less from retirement.
If you want to retire comfortably, and have accepted that you most likely are not going to win the lottery, then it’s time to take control of your destiny, preferably yesterday. Social Security will most likely provide for the basics: groceries, shelter and a little clothing, but not much else.
The problem with Social Security is that it is about to be crushed by the number of baby boomers nearing retirement. When Social Security was established in 1935, the system worked because the average life expectancy was 62. Today’s medical miracles are keeping us alive 30 years after retirement age. You do the math. Oh, you haven’t, and that’s why you’re reading this article.
This article won’t do the math for you; instead, it’s to get you thinking about your retirement plan, or lack thereof. So how much does the average person need to retire? It’s hard to predict how much a person who is 40 today will need at 70, but if you use current inflation figures, many reports are saying you should have at least a million dollars in the bank before retiring. A million dollars?
“I have clients with portfolios that large,” says David Whelan Jr., CPA, who is president of Eaglerock Investment Strategies Inc. in Swampscott. “However, the vast majority of people are not heading in that direction.”
Set your goals
Your goal is to avoid living out your retirement years with a cat food diet and a social calendar consisting of watching TV on a tattered recliner. However, you should also expect to live more frugally.
One rule of thumb is that you’ll at least 75 percent of your current income. “It depends on lifestyle, if a client wants to travel around the world once a year, if golf is in somebody’s plans,” says Whelan. “But people who retire at 65 can conceivably live another 20 years, so whatever people set aside needs to last that long.” Also factor in medical expenses not covered by Medicare; retirement community or assisted living costs; and helping out any family members in need.
Expect to contribute a minimum of 5 percent if you’re in your 20s, at least 7 to 10 percent in your 30s, and 15 to 20 percent if you’re just starting to save for retirement in your 40s and 50s.
“I’d tell my 35-year-old best friend to pick a portfolio of well diversified mutual funds, put as much as he could into it, and not do anything with it,” says Whelan. “He will be very happy in 20 years.” As you near retirement, shift more of your retirement nest egg into more stable bonds to ride out another economic downturn.
However, there will be some hard choices to make.
“The 40-something crowd is dealing with planning for retirement and their children’s education, which is often competing for the same dollars,” says Whelan. He and many other financial planners urge that your retirement takes priority. Worst case, junior can get loans or go to a fine state school. You aren’t being selfish – you are trying to protect your kids from having to care for you when you’re older and penniless.
On the other hand, you can use those Section 529 education savings accounts for yourself – name yourself the beneficiary and use those funds in your retirement for tuition, fees, supplies, books, room and board to study literature in London, or learn Italian in Rome.
Also, some plans will let you borrow from the account balance for a downpayment, education expenses, emergency medical expenses and disability.
Diversify your savings
Workplaces will offer a 401 (k), Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs), pensions, annuities, or Keogh, and if you’re lucky your employer will contribute to it. You’ll then have Social Security and savings.
Many Polaroid employees are looking at empty retirement accounts; meanwhile, many who thought they could retire soon are looking at mutual funds sagging from the economic downturn. The key to safer investing is diversification – don’t put all your eggs into one basket.
“In a 401K the biggest mistake people can make with Polaroid and Enron is having 100 percent of your portfolio in one stock,” says Whelan, who recommends no more than 10 percent in any single company.
However, this is also a time to be brave. “I think the biggest concern I have these days is hearing people say that investing in the market these days isn’t safe; but historically it is still the best way to save for retirement,” says Whelan. “People have to keep the discipline and focus.”
General Electric worker Joe Cahill of Lynn has been setting aside 7 to 10 percent of his salary since he started 26 years ago, and he is fully invested in his GE pension. His 401(k) consists of all GE stock, and GE matches up to 7 percent. Considering what happened at Polaroid, he adds nervously, “I have to do something about that. But GE is somewhat like a mutual fund, because they are so diversified. And they’ve done really well in the past 5 or 10 years.”
“When I was younger I never thought I’d get to the point where I’d be in retirement,” says Cahill, who now finds himself listening to financial programs on talk radio for advice. “I feel most people retire into poverty.”
Good financial planning also includes investing in non-tax-sheltered mutual funds, preferably with no custodial fees and no commissions, called loads. “There are some real good no-load mutual funds out there – Janus and Vanguard offer a couple of investment families that have no-load products,” says Whelan.
You may also want to tune up your retirement planning with a well-recommended certified financial planner. A planner charges about one to two percent of the portfolio, up front or based on commission.
“We’re an independent firm,” says Whelan about his Eaglerock services. “We have in excess of a thousand funds available. If you go to Smith Barney you’re apt to end up with Smith Barney funds. Some people work on a fee basis, a lot of it is commission-driven. Nothing is for nothing.”
Sandra Miller is a freelance writer. She is hoping that her Partridge Family lunch box and original Star Wars figurines will fund a comfy retirement.
Sidebar: Last-minute retirement fixes
If you’re nearing retirement age and didn’t save enough:
• Extend your planned retirement age. Plan for a second career that you can foresee yourself doing past 70, even if only part-time. Take advantage of 401(k) plans or health benefits.
• Turn a hobby into income. Golfers can skip the fees in exchange for a part-time job on the greens. Sell your baked goods to the local grocery store.
• Consider a reverse mortgage, where you get a monthly income while building a loan balance against your home equity.
• Maintain your health. Stop smoking (you’ll save loads of cash), exercise (walking is free!), keep your weight down (save on groceries). Eat less meat (veggies are cheaper, and cholesterol takes its toll). Brush and floss daily (or are dentures cheaper in the long run?)
• Look for cheaper cable and Internet plans. Better yet, cancel those services and volunteer your time. (Bonus: A social life.)
• Buy a multi-family home that generates rental income, or take in a boarder.
• Barter your babysitting and cooking skills for a bedroom and kitchen space in your kid’s home.
Resources:
Some good books for beginners:
• “Personal Finance For Dummies,” By Eric Tyson
• ”The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom” by Suze Orman
• “On Your Own: A Widow's Passage to Emotional and Financial Well-Being,”
Alexandra Armstrong
• 25 Myths You've Got to Avoid If You Want to Manage Your Money Right: The New Rules for Financial Success, Jonathan Clements
Websites:
• www.Motleyfool.com
• www.bankrate.com
www.quicken.com
• Social Security benefits calculator: www.ssa.gov/retire/calculators
Sunday, April 14, 2002
Doing the Homework
What to consider when hiring a house inspector
By Sandra Miller
Daily Evening Item
Home inspector Dennis Robitaille gives second opinions all the time, often for lawyers’ clients with a dog of a house on their hands. One home inspection report made Robitaille laugh out loud. “Under “Foundation,” the comments said, ‘Yes, under perimeter of dwelling’… under “Roof,” the inspector wrote ‘OK.’ When I went into the attic, there was daylight shining through it, like someone took a shotgun to it.”
The house also had extensive termite damage, a broken sewer line, torn and damaged asbestos materials in the basement, and old wiring, yet none of this was reported by the inspector, who claimed to have more than 35 years of experience.
The client eventually won his case in court, but what really gets Robitaille is that the home buyer had called him for a home inspection in the first place, but rejected his $400 fee for the other inspector’s $150. “I want to tell them, ‘You can pay me now, or pay me later,’” says Robitaille, who runs Able Home Inspections in Saugus.
“My job is to protect the buyers,” says Robitaille. “Buying a house is emotional. You probably assume there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s like going to the doctors -- do you really want to find out what’s wrong?”
Years ago, an inspection was an afterthought. Many home buyers will give a thorough once-over to a used car, but not to a half-million-dollar money pit that will clock in as the biggest investment of their lives. If a homeowner hired one at all, they often opted for “bargain” inspectors recommended by their real estate agents – who represent the seller, not the buyer. But what they don’t always realize is that was often in the agents’ best interests to provide fast, easy inspectors.
A state home inspection law passed last year prohibits real estate brokers and salespersons from directly recommending a specific home inspection company or home inspector, unless they are officially the buyer’s broker. It also requires that all inspectors to be licensed by the state.
“Ten years ago there were no standards. Anyone could be a home inspector,” says William Goddard, an inspector in Marblehead. “Today, the reports are far more extensive. We’re doing efficiency tests on boilers we didn’t do 10 years ago, using moisture meters to check for moisture behind walls.”
Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer or are buying a home for the first time in several years, there’s a lot to know about the home inspection process.
How to hire an inspector
• Pick one BEFORE you find a house. Today’s home sales can be very fast-moving process, yet finding the right inspector can take research. And spring is busy time for the state’s mere 500 licensed inspectors. Upon request, agents can provide a list of licensed home inspectors prepared by the Board of Home Inspectors. Better yet, get referrals from those who do not have a vested interest in the sale, such as your attorney, and past clients of the inspector. Look beyond a guy wielding a flashlight and a license, and check experience, credentials, association membership, and special training in such areas as asbestos, lead paint, and pest control.
• Do the homework. “Educate yourself about houses and the systems in a house before you start looking for a house,” says Bridget McGuiness, a rare woman inspector who runs Corrosion Check in Swampscott. “As you attend open houses, you may be able to bypass houses that require more work than what you can afford.”
• Look over the P&S. Some purchase & sales (P & S) agreements allow the buyer only 5 days from the signing of the P & S to obtain an inspection, but you can try for 14 days from when the agreement is signed -- many good home inspectors are booked more than 5 days in advance, and you may want some wiggle room. Also, a buyer wants a clause that allows them to cancel an agreement for any reason if not satisfied with the inspection findings, and get the deposit back. More restrictive clauses may try to limit this to "major defects and/or hazardous conditions...". Ask your attorney to review this.
• What will the inspector do – and not do? A standard inspection covers areas such as foundation, sills, beams, support columns, sub-floor, basement, attic insulation, roof structure and covering, walls, doors, floors, windows, electrical, plumbing, central heating and cooling systems, fireplaces, and chimneys. But ask how long will they spend on an inspection? Will they climb on a ladder to inspect the roof, or use binoculars from across the street?
• Be prepared to hire licensed specialists to cover questions about structural integrity, termites, land composition. “I always check for pest activities, rot and so forth, but most inspectors are not licensed exterminators,” says Goddard, of Goddard Association Home Inspections.
• Fees. An average 2000-square foot home inspection will cost around $175-$500, more if it’s an older or larger home, less for condos. Fees are based on house size, style, age, location, type of structure & optional services requested. “If it’s an antique home, I have to check out the mortars and timbers for powderpost beetles and rot,” says Goddard.
• Hire experience. You want someone trained in construction and building maintenance standards, and licensed by the state Division of Professional Licensure. He or she should be a member of affiliations that require certification, such as American Society of Home Inspectors. Robitaille, who is a member of ASHI, also founded the Independent Home Inspectors of North America, which requires members to sign a pledge stating they do not actively solicit real estate agents for home buyer client leads.
• Ask for a sample report. A simple checklist may lack the details and advice of a narrative report. Is the information thorough and clear? Does it cover potential safety hazards?
• Check references. Ask for the names and telephone numbers of clients who used that home inspector more than 3 months ago – some problems can take a while to surface. And also check with the Better Business Bureau or attorney general’s office.
• Ask about their policies on errors or overlooked problems. Does the company have insurance for mistakes and omissions? Will the individual inspector ask you to sign a waiver limiting liability? Will they refund their fee if you are dissatisfied?
Once you’ve hired the inspector:
• Attend the home inspection. Not only will you be armed with your own questions about the house, you’ll learn first-hand about your future home’s quirks.
• Inspectors should be loaded for bear. Check whether your home inspector is equipped with such tools as a flashlight, level, an inspection mirror, and a ladder, gadgets such as outlet testers, gas and carbon monoxide detectors. Robitaille says most good inspectors can now only do one inspection a day. “Now I’m using expensive carbon monoxide detectors, electrical circuit analyzers, and electronic moisture meters; then it’s back to the computer to write the report, and include some digital photography.” But, he adds, “The most important thing an inspector can bring to the inspection site is experience.”
• Ask questions. Basically, you want to know whether the house is safe, and if it’s a money pit. Everything else can be fixed, but it’s still wise to prepare a list of questions in advance.
• Be sure the inspector checks EVERYWHERE. For example, the electrical outlets should not only be tested, but the plate unscrewed to check for older wiring and insulation. Are they shying away from the spooky corners? McGuiness recalls one “boy, I’m glad I entered that crawlspace” situation where she crawled into a two-foot-high area that was “dark, damp, and full of spider webs. I went up to the end of the crawlspace where the house sill was located and found that several feet of sill was significantly rotted. A contractor estimated the damage would cost about $20,000 to repair.” The owner’s inspector a few years earlier didn’t catch the damage, and so the seller agreed to pay for the repair. “The seller then hired me to inspect the house he was buying.”
After the inspection
• At the end of the inspection, get a full verbal report from the home inspector. The written report may be due as early as the next working day, and it should tell you the good and not so good aspects of the home, safety factors, the repairs that will be needed, and possible hidden deterioration.
• The report may estimate life left on systems and components of a house.
• Most home inspectors also include photos of problem areas.
• The home inspector should answer any questions you may have, immediately or down the road.
You should not expect the home inspector to:
• Offer to repair, for a fee, any uncovered defects
• Advise either way whether to buy the property. Says McGuiness, “That decision is up to you. “
• Perform certain tests, such as for underground storage tanks, lead paint, drinking water, radon gas, urea formaldehyde foam insulation, asbestos, septic systems and pest control, unless previously agreed. These are often specialty areas requiring separate and additional licensing or certifications.
• Give an appraisal of the value of the home, or even the cost of the repair. “It really irks me when a home inspector says this problem will cost x amount of dollars to correct,” says Kathryn O’Brien, an agent for ReMax on the River in Ipswich and Newburyport. “I’ve actually heard home inspectors say to the buyers, ‘The seller should take x amount of dollars off to repair this problem.’ This is not appropriate.”
• Scare you with horror stories from past inspections. “I’ve had inspectors scare the bejesus out of my clients,” says O’Brien.
• See through walls, lift heavy furniture or make their way through rooms cluttered with items. Says Goddard, “They can’t go inside walls or behind aluminum siding. We’re not supposed to move furniture, although in the bathroom or on hardwood floors I will lift a rug. Sometimes you go into a basement loaded with storage, and we aren’t required to get around that.” If a cluttered room prevents a good inspection, 24 hours before closing you can do a final walkthrough in the now-empty house to check for damage.
• Be perfect. “Inspectors are generalists,” says McGuiness. “Sometimes we know a lot about a few things. Inspectors are human and may make mistakes. Work with the inspector if a problem arises.”
Hire a buyer
Still not sure who to hire? Cautious buyers spend the extra money to hire a buyer’s broker, usually a small percentage of the home price, in addition to a real estate agent.
“A buyer’s broker can do a lot of the work for you,” says Tom O’Donnell, who used Hunneman as his broker to find an inspector and help him buy his first home, a six-room cape on Walnut Street in Lynn, two years ago. “I was paying more attention to the paperwork and making all the deadlines,” says O’Donnell.
“There were no major problems … it needs a vent up in the attic so the heat doesn’t build up, something to do with the drain spots, but those are easily fixed.” In the two years since he’s owned the home, he’s only had a little plumbing done.
As a broker, Kathryn O’Brien often refers Robitaille, who she used on a recent sale on Neptune Street in Lynn, as well as for her own home, a circa 1790 home in Newbury. “I want my home inspector to find every single solitary thing with a house.” O’Brien also swears by home inspectors Jim Tebo in Rockport, Skip Telli in Byfield and Dale Pope in Gloucester. “They are not inexpensive, but you get what you pay for.”
“It’s to the seller’s advantage to hire an inspector,” she adds. “When the buyer moves in, they aren’t going to discover something they don’t like and say, ‘I didn’t know it had x, y and z.’ “
And even new homes come with problems. O’Brien recalled a brand new home in Groveland where the builder did not want a home inspection. She insisted upon one on behalf of her buyers, and Robitaille found two gas leaks.
Many buyers feel pressured to skimp on the inspection to speed up the sale, especially in today’s fast-moving home market. “There’ a lack of inventory which means high demand.,” says Goddard. “When I do an inspection for a client, the seller says ‘Take it or leave it.’”
It’s a seller’s market. “Don’t expect that the inspection will allow you to muscle the seller to reduce the price of the house,” says McGuiness. “If a home inspection discovers unknown or unanticipated problems or issues with the house, then, maybe a seller may be open to negotiating. But that depends on a lot of factors.”
Sandra Miller is a local freelance writer. She bought her home two years ago before the consumer laws went into effect, and is now nervous about those spooky crawlspaces in the basement.
By Sandra Miller
Daily Evening Item
Home inspector Dennis Robitaille gives second opinions all the time, often for lawyers’ clients with a dog of a house on their hands. One home inspection report made Robitaille laugh out loud. “Under “Foundation,” the comments said, ‘Yes, under perimeter of dwelling’… under “Roof,” the inspector wrote ‘OK.’ When I went into the attic, there was daylight shining through it, like someone took a shotgun to it.”
The house also had extensive termite damage, a broken sewer line, torn and damaged asbestos materials in the basement, and old wiring, yet none of this was reported by the inspector, who claimed to have more than 35 years of experience.
The client eventually won his case in court, but what really gets Robitaille is that the home buyer had called him for a home inspection in the first place, but rejected his $400 fee for the other inspector’s $150. “I want to tell them, ‘You can pay me now, or pay me later,’” says Robitaille, who runs Able Home Inspections in Saugus.
“My job is to protect the buyers,” says Robitaille. “Buying a house is emotional. You probably assume there’s nothing wrong with it. It’s like going to the doctors -- do you really want to find out what’s wrong?”
Years ago, an inspection was an afterthought. Many home buyers will give a thorough once-over to a used car, but not to a half-million-dollar money pit that will clock in as the biggest investment of their lives. If a homeowner hired one at all, they often opted for “bargain” inspectors recommended by their real estate agents – who represent the seller, not the buyer. But what they don’t always realize is that was often in the agents’ best interests to provide fast, easy inspectors.
A state home inspection law passed last year prohibits real estate brokers and salespersons from directly recommending a specific home inspection company or home inspector, unless they are officially the buyer’s broker. It also requires that all inspectors to be licensed by the state.
“Ten years ago there were no standards. Anyone could be a home inspector,” says William Goddard, an inspector in Marblehead. “Today, the reports are far more extensive. We’re doing efficiency tests on boilers we didn’t do 10 years ago, using moisture meters to check for moisture behind walls.”
Whether you’re a first-time homebuyer or are buying a home for the first time in several years, there’s a lot to know about the home inspection process.
How to hire an inspector
• Pick one BEFORE you find a house. Today’s home sales can be very fast-moving process, yet finding the right inspector can take research. And spring is busy time for the state’s mere 500 licensed inspectors. Upon request, agents can provide a list of licensed home inspectors prepared by the Board of Home Inspectors. Better yet, get referrals from those who do not have a vested interest in the sale, such as your attorney, and past clients of the inspector. Look beyond a guy wielding a flashlight and a license, and check experience, credentials, association membership, and special training in such areas as asbestos, lead paint, and pest control.
• Do the homework. “Educate yourself about houses and the systems in a house before you start looking for a house,” says Bridget McGuiness, a rare woman inspector who runs Corrosion Check in Swampscott. “As you attend open houses, you may be able to bypass houses that require more work than what you can afford.”
• Look over the P&S. Some purchase & sales (P & S) agreements allow the buyer only 5 days from the signing of the P & S to obtain an inspection, but you can try for 14 days from when the agreement is signed -- many good home inspectors are booked more than 5 days in advance, and you may want some wiggle room. Also, a buyer wants a clause that allows them to cancel an agreement for any reason if not satisfied with the inspection findings, and get the deposit back. More restrictive clauses may try to limit this to "major defects and/or hazardous conditions...". Ask your attorney to review this.
• What will the inspector do – and not do? A standard inspection covers areas such as foundation, sills, beams, support columns, sub-floor, basement, attic insulation, roof structure and covering, walls, doors, floors, windows, electrical, plumbing, central heating and cooling systems, fireplaces, and chimneys. But ask how long will they spend on an inspection? Will they climb on a ladder to inspect the roof, or use binoculars from across the street?
• Be prepared to hire licensed specialists to cover questions about structural integrity, termites, land composition. “I always check for pest activities, rot and so forth, but most inspectors are not licensed exterminators,” says Goddard, of Goddard Association Home Inspections.
• Fees. An average 2000-square foot home inspection will cost around $175-$500, more if it’s an older or larger home, less for condos. Fees are based on house size, style, age, location, type of structure & optional services requested. “If it’s an antique home, I have to check out the mortars and timbers for powderpost beetles and rot,” says Goddard.
• Hire experience. You want someone trained in construction and building maintenance standards, and licensed by the state Division of Professional Licensure. He or she should be a member of affiliations that require certification, such as American Society of Home Inspectors. Robitaille, who is a member of ASHI, also founded the Independent Home Inspectors of North America, which requires members to sign a pledge stating they do not actively solicit real estate agents for home buyer client leads.
• Ask for a sample report. A simple checklist may lack the details and advice of a narrative report. Is the information thorough and clear? Does it cover potential safety hazards?
• Check references. Ask for the names and telephone numbers of clients who used that home inspector more than 3 months ago – some problems can take a while to surface. And also check with the Better Business Bureau or attorney general’s office.
• Ask about their policies on errors or overlooked problems. Does the company have insurance for mistakes and omissions? Will the individual inspector ask you to sign a waiver limiting liability? Will they refund their fee if you are dissatisfied?
Once you’ve hired the inspector:
• Attend the home inspection. Not only will you be armed with your own questions about the house, you’ll learn first-hand about your future home’s quirks.
• Inspectors should be loaded for bear. Check whether your home inspector is equipped with such tools as a flashlight, level, an inspection mirror, and a ladder, gadgets such as outlet testers, gas and carbon monoxide detectors. Robitaille says most good inspectors can now only do one inspection a day. “Now I’m using expensive carbon monoxide detectors, electrical circuit analyzers, and electronic moisture meters; then it’s back to the computer to write the report, and include some digital photography.” But, he adds, “The most important thing an inspector can bring to the inspection site is experience.”
• Ask questions. Basically, you want to know whether the house is safe, and if it’s a money pit. Everything else can be fixed, but it’s still wise to prepare a list of questions in advance.
• Be sure the inspector checks EVERYWHERE. For example, the electrical outlets should not only be tested, but the plate unscrewed to check for older wiring and insulation. Are they shying away from the spooky corners? McGuiness recalls one “boy, I’m glad I entered that crawlspace” situation where she crawled into a two-foot-high area that was “dark, damp, and full of spider webs. I went up to the end of the crawlspace where the house sill was located and found that several feet of sill was significantly rotted. A contractor estimated the damage would cost about $20,000 to repair.” The owner’s inspector a few years earlier didn’t catch the damage, and so the seller agreed to pay for the repair. “The seller then hired me to inspect the house he was buying.”
After the inspection
• At the end of the inspection, get a full verbal report from the home inspector. The written report may be due as early as the next working day, and it should tell you the good and not so good aspects of the home, safety factors, the repairs that will be needed, and possible hidden deterioration.
• The report may estimate life left on systems and components of a house.
• Most home inspectors also include photos of problem areas.
• The home inspector should answer any questions you may have, immediately or down the road.
You should not expect the home inspector to:
• Offer to repair, for a fee, any uncovered defects
• Advise either way whether to buy the property. Says McGuiness, “That decision is up to you. “
• Perform certain tests, such as for underground storage tanks, lead paint, drinking water, radon gas, urea formaldehyde foam insulation, asbestos, septic systems and pest control, unless previously agreed. These are often specialty areas requiring separate and additional licensing or certifications.
• Give an appraisal of the value of the home, or even the cost of the repair. “It really irks me when a home inspector says this problem will cost x amount of dollars to correct,” says Kathryn O’Brien, an agent for ReMax on the River in Ipswich and Newburyport. “I’ve actually heard home inspectors say to the buyers, ‘The seller should take x amount of dollars off to repair this problem.’ This is not appropriate.”
• Scare you with horror stories from past inspections. “I’ve had inspectors scare the bejesus out of my clients,” says O’Brien.
• See through walls, lift heavy furniture or make their way through rooms cluttered with items. Says Goddard, “They can’t go inside walls or behind aluminum siding. We’re not supposed to move furniture, although in the bathroom or on hardwood floors I will lift a rug. Sometimes you go into a basement loaded with storage, and we aren’t required to get around that.” If a cluttered room prevents a good inspection, 24 hours before closing you can do a final walkthrough in the now-empty house to check for damage.
• Be perfect. “Inspectors are generalists,” says McGuiness. “Sometimes we know a lot about a few things. Inspectors are human and may make mistakes. Work with the inspector if a problem arises.”
Hire a buyer
Still not sure who to hire? Cautious buyers spend the extra money to hire a buyer’s broker, usually a small percentage of the home price, in addition to a real estate agent.
“A buyer’s broker can do a lot of the work for you,” says Tom O’Donnell, who used Hunneman as his broker to find an inspector and help him buy his first home, a six-room cape on Walnut Street in Lynn, two years ago. “I was paying more attention to the paperwork and making all the deadlines,” says O’Donnell.
“There were no major problems … it needs a vent up in the attic so the heat doesn’t build up, something to do with the drain spots, but those are easily fixed.” In the two years since he’s owned the home, he’s only had a little plumbing done.
As a broker, Kathryn O’Brien often refers Robitaille, who she used on a recent sale on Neptune Street in Lynn, as well as for her own home, a circa 1790 home in Newbury. “I want my home inspector to find every single solitary thing with a house.” O’Brien also swears by home inspectors Jim Tebo in Rockport, Skip Telli in Byfield and Dale Pope in Gloucester. “They are not inexpensive, but you get what you pay for.”
“It’s to the seller’s advantage to hire an inspector,” she adds. “When the buyer moves in, they aren’t going to discover something they don’t like and say, ‘I didn’t know it had x, y and z.’ “
And even new homes come with problems. O’Brien recalled a brand new home in Groveland where the builder did not want a home inspection. She insisted upon one on behalf of her buyers, and Robitaille found two gas leaks.
Many buyers feel pressured to skimp on the inspection to speed up the sale, especially in today’s fast-moving home market. “There’ a lack of inventory which means high demand.,” says Goddard. “When I do an inspection for a client, the seller says ‘Take it or leave it.’”
It’s a seller’s market. “Don’t expect that the inspection will allow you to muscle the seller to reduce the price of the house,” says McGuiness. “If a home inspection discovers unknown or unanticipated problems or issues with the house, then, maybe a seller may be open to negotiating. But that depends on a lot of factors.”
Sandra Miller is a local freelance writer. She bought her home two years ago before the consumer laws went into effect, and is now nervous about those spooky crawlspaces in the basement.
Monday, January 14, 2002
FrontRunners: No Sweat
Sandra Miller
Private Air Travel, RobbReport.com January 2002
At the national health club chain The Sports Club/LA (www.thesportsclub.com), you can arrive with sneakers and briefcase at 5 am, stay until the gym closes at 11 pm, and get in a full day’s work and a workout—even if you are traveling on business. The clubs can serve as remote home bases for business travelers, and to accommodate on-site business meetings, The Sports Club/LA’s Reebok Sports Club in New York provides an executive business center. Or you can meet for martini lunches and business dinners at any of the clubs’ in-house gourmet restaurants.
For a $1,200 initiation fee and $210 a month, bicoastal members have access to all nine Sports Club/LA locations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Boston.
As you would expect, the facilities feature the latest in ex-ercise equipment, cardiovascular classes, and weight training, but there are additional amenities that separate these fitness clubs from others. The Sports Club/LA offers haircuts as well as hair replacement therapy, facials, microdermabrasions, acupuncture, chiropractic treatments, and sports massages. You can also have your suits cleaned, and a concierge can help you obtain theater tickets or dinner reservations.
Considering the clubs’ clientele, they could also be great places to do some networking, whether it’s on a rock-climbing wall or a rooftop driving range.
Private Air Travel, RobbReport.com January 2002
At the national health club chain The Sports Club/LA (www.thesportsclub.com), you can arrive with sneakers and briefcase at 5 am, stay until the gym closes at 11 pm, and get in a full day’s work and a workout—even if you are traveling on business. The clubs can serve as remote home bases for business travelers, and to accommodate on-site business meetings, The Sports Club/LA’s Reebok Sports Club in New York provides an executive business center. Or you can meet for martini lunches and business dinners at any of the clubs’ in-house gourmet restaurants.
For a $1,200 initiation fee and $210 a month, bicoastal members have access to all nine Sports Club/LA locations in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, New York, Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and Boston.
As you would expect, the facilities feature the latest in ex-ercise equipment, cardiovascular classes, and weight training, but there are additional amenities that separate these fitness clubs from others. The Sports Club/LA offers haircuts as well as hair replacement therapy, facials, microdermabrasions, acupuncture, chiropractic treatments, and sports massages. You can also have your suits cleaned, and a concierge can help you obtain theater tickets or dinner reservations.
Considering the clubs’ clientele, they could also be great places to do some networking, whether it’s on a rock-climbing wall or a rooftop driving range.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)