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With temperatures rising quickly as summer approaches, many people have already turned on their air conditioners. They may not know, however, that what’s atop their homes may be keeping them from staying cool and comfortable. Dave Mann, president of Patriot Roofing, says “Clay and concrete tiles have been around for thousands of years. They are recycled material. They come from the earth – clay and concrete mines that come from the ground. They have a reflectivity quotient that’s above and beyond any other roofing product that’s on the market.”

Roofing tiles are the only materials that have two natural qualities necessary for energy reduction; they contain natural thermal resistance in the raw materials but also the installation of the individual tiles creates a natural airspace around each tile for ventilation that cools air and enables unobstructed circulation. Mann says that this can keep heat in or out of a home, depending on what is desired, resulting in less air conditioner usage and lower electrical bills.

Mann also says that only eight percent of the US residential market uses concrete and clay roof tiles but the market is warming up to the idea because of the cost-savings. Mann says, “The rising cost of oil and with asphalt shingles becoming more expensive the price points are equaling out now. This is the best product that’s on the market. It lasts the longest. It’s the most efficient and it truly is green.”

Though replacing a roof is a major home improvement project that many homeowners avoid until absolutely necessary, Mann says that changing your roof will drastically change your energy bill. Also, there are many attractive styles of concrete and clay available. “That’s the big misnomer in tile,” says Mann, “that’s its red, round, and heavy. It comes in flat products. It comes in a multitude of colors – blues, greens, browns, and blacks. You can get a concrete and clay roof tile in a round and flat in any color that you want. It’s, in fact, very versatile.”

The Tile Roofing Institute (TRI) has just launched its green building campaign, “Go Green with Tile,” to promote the advantages of going green. The campaign hopes to educate both architects and homeowners about the environmental benefits of clay tile and concrete roofs. Also, they plan to inform homeowners about life-cycle cost, recycling, reflectivity, and sustainability.

“Roofing tiles on average are going to come with a 50-year warranty,” says Mann. “Solar products on average are going to come with a 25-year warranty and any reputable roofing contractor is going to give you a minimum of half of the life cycle of both products as far as labor goes.” Mann believes that these warranties strongly outweigh those “20-year limited warranties” offered by asphalt-based shingle roofing products.

The integration of solar usage and tiles is another green, energy-saving effort that’s becoming popular among homeowners. Mann points out, “They’re more affordable now and they’re making solar roof tiles that actually integrate with the actual tiles themselves so it’s not as ugly. It’s a lot more aesthetically pleasing. It’s walkable. It’s serviceable and a roofer can install it versus having two different contractors, both a roofer and a solar installer – you can just hire one.”

What Oklahoma City home builder Rachel Odom thought was a risky business venture may turn out to be one of the most practical solutions for baby boomer - homebuyers. Four years ago she began constructing an exclusive development where houses average only 1,800 square feet, a size substantially smaller than the homes of up to 6,000 square feet that her company had been building. Odom’s modest building plans fall 500 square feet smaller than the national average for new construction.  

Odom says “Our concept was that people would pay up for smaller homes with more architectural character, but since nearly everyone seems to dream of owning a large home, we were taking a huge risk.” Turns out, Odom was thinking in the right direction. In her Talavera development, where houses are as pricey as $275,000 (almost double the median local home price), she sold 115 homes in the first 18 months and expects to sell 600 total. For most, smaller houses just make more sense.  

Though many economists over the years have predicted a mass downsizing of the average American home, this size has continued to rise from just about 1,600 square feet in the late 1970s to almost 2,300 square feet today. A number of current trends, however, are signaling Americans may really be ready to trade expansive residences for smaller, more modest abodes. Baby boomers, the oldest of whom turned62 this year, are more and more frequently becoming “empty-nesters,” and thus need less space. Also, Generations X and Y are fascinated with downtown-style living where they can enjoy easy access to entertainment and restaurants, smaller commutes, and more manageable living spaces.  

“Ask anyone how many rooms in their house they don’t regularly go into and most will admit that they actually live in a small percentage of their home,” says Marianne Cusato, an architect who, after designing many 3,000+ square-foot homes, specializes in cottages. In February, a survey of potential home buyers given by the National Association of Home builders revealed that 60% of these buyers would rather have a smaller house with more amenities than the other way around. “In the past, people would say ‘Give me space and I’ll add the features later,’” said Gopal Ahluwalia, the Association’s president of research. 

Still, many Americans will find it hard to cope with less space. Cusato believes that newly constructed houses will have layouts that can “live bigger” than their square footage would suggest. Rooms can double in function; a den can be dressed up as a formal living room when needed (though Cusato points out that it will most likely not be needed often). Cusato predicts that the formal dining room will be the next space to go. Families can meet all dining and entertainment needs by enlarging the breakfast nook. Great rooms may also become obsolete; Cusato thinks “open spaces are great, but people don’t know how to use undefined rooms. So they don’t.”  

Sarah Susanka says, in her book The Big Little House, “The majority of your guests want to be in rooms you live in, not have their socks knocked off by a three-story foyer.” Susanka believes that designing smaller homes with as much storage as possible is vital in shifting the American mindset from “bigger is better” to “smaller is more practical.”  If this trend toward smaller residences continues, it could dramatically change home values. Online house-pricing service Zillow.com’s most recent online survey shows that less expensive houses appreciate more than larger, more expensive homes. If this also continues, the omnipresent mega-homes may become a rarity.

Residents of Fort Smith will be happy to know that bread production at Fort Smith Baking Co. in downtown Fort Smith will begin next week. Mary Krier, vice president of communications for Thomasville, Ga.-based Flowers Foods said the company’s supplementary bakery will begin making premium full-loaf Nature’s Own breads on Monday.  

The company currently has 44 permanent employees and 27 contract employees working on one production line, according to Krier. Fort Smith Baking’s current focus is on producing Flowers Foods’ new product, full-loaf Nature’s Own bread, which has been in strong demand since it’s debut in early 2007.

For Flowers Foods, the new demand meant finding a new facility at which to boost production. The company went back to a familiar place on South Sixth Street in downtown Fort Smith where Flowers Foods once made frozen boxed bread. This production stopped in December 2006 and left 75 people without a job. Until then, the bakery had operated out of the Sixth Street location since 1921, when it was built by B.H. Shipley Sr. and his brother W.G. Shipley. The Shipley’s ran the company until it was purchased by publicly traded Flowers Foods in 1996.  

The new production line will produce fresh bread that Krier says will be available in Fort Smith grocery stores as early as May 16. Flowers Foods currently has 37 bakeries in the United States producing under brand names such as Nature’s Own, Cobblestone Mill, and Blue Bird as well as regional franchised brands like Bunny and Sunbeam. The company experienced an 8 percent growth in sales last year at $2.04 billion and their net income increased to $94.6 million (16 percent). Flowers Foods operates two additional Arkansas facilities in Texarkana and Batesville.

A bill that was discussed in Congress this morning proposes the allocation of $15 billion to states in order to allow state governments to buy, rehabilitate, at sell homes. This “housing-rescue bill” would give $7.5 billion in grants and $7.5 billion in zero-interest loans to states in addition to allowing them to partake in the buying and selling of real estate. This bill is sponsored by Rep. Maxine Walters (D-Calif.) and passed committee last week. It will probably be taken up on the House floor this week. In April, a Senate bill including a similar provision allocated $4 billion to this project.

Even if these proposals become law, the effort could be challenged in numerous ways. Cities that have attempted to buy and manage properties have found it difficult to maintain and sell them. In 2002, the city of Baltimore began its purchasing of abandoned properties, an effort they called “Project 5,000” for the number of homes they intended to purchase. The city of Baltimore now owns more than 10,000 vacant properties that it cannot unload. Their latest attempt to fix the problem – creating a nonprofit land bank to direct them – will likely cost $2.8 million.

Republicans who oppose the ideas floating around in Congress say that it would give lenders incentive to more quickly evict homeowners if they could “pawn them off” on local governments. Supporters, however, say the laws would create affordable housing while stopping vacant homes from becoming rundown and making surrounding neighborhoods unattractive.

Under the House plan, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) would dispense loans and grants according to the number of foreclosures and home prices in an area. Cities could use this money to buy and renovate foreclosed homes, make them compliant to local housing codes, and resell or rent them. The homes can’t be resold to buyers who make more than 140% of the area’s median income and some funds would be reserved for low-income homebuyers. Loans would have to be repaid within two years if used for single-family housing or within five years if used for rentals. Also, the federal government would keep 20% of any profits made by buyers who resold houses they bought from the city.

The U.S. Council of Mayors has lobbied for the bill by soliciting mayors across the country to call local congressmen and ask for their support. While the current bill will only issue funds to the country’s most populous cities, the council is attempting to widen its applicability to more cities. Nonprofit groups in many cities would help local governments manage the programs and these groups believe the funds can be used effectively. Patrick Morrissy, executive director of Housing and Neighborhood Development Services in Orange, N.J., says “there’s no question that we need this money. It’s essential if we want to mitigate the impact of foreclosures in urban neighborhoods.” This nonprofit group has bought and renovated homes for over twenty years. They usually spend $160,000 to acquire, rehab, and maintain a home, and so far the group has applied this process to roughly 130 homes that they have resold at a discount price to first-time and low-income buyers.

Many towns, such as those that have been affected by mass layoffs in the past, have experience handling vacant homes, says Jennifer Leonard, director of the National Vacant Properties group. This organization actively promotes city programs that help to rehabilitate abandoned land and homes. This type of “seasoned” program can effectively stop vacant homes from becoming eyesores in their communities, she says. It may be difficult for some inexperienced cities to buy and sell foreclosed homes, Leonard says. To that end, the campaign has asked Congress to include provisions in the bill that would allow some of the money to be put toward raising cities’ capability to manage properties and later resell them.

Some real estate analysts remain skeptical of the plan’s projected impact on the housing market. Relative to the foreclosure crisis, $15 billion is unsubstantial. According to foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac, around 650,000 foreclosure filings on properties were submitted in the first quarter. If the allocated $15 billion were used exclusively to buy homes with an average price of $100,000, states could purchase 150,000 homes. Also, the bill is geared toward the low-end of the housing market. This could be a problem for some sing the bill would only allow the purchase of single-family homes with a purchase price no greater than 90% of an area’s average. In addition to these issues, some analysts worry that cities would be in too deep. “I don’t buy that it’s going to work. If cities were good at buying, selling, and developing things, we wouldn’t need private developers,” says Vincent Valvo, group publisher of The Warren Group, a Boston real estate analyst.

If you’re in the midst of a kitchen or bathroom remodel, CNN Money offers these tips to help you find higher-end products for bargain prices.

Granite Countertops

-A staple in high end kitchens, granite-covered countertops exude luxury. There is a way, however, to get this luxury without the steep price. Granite tiles are much more affordable than granite slabs and often easier to install. Benissimo’s Granite Solutions offers five new colors of ½ inch tiles that have a 1 ½ inch bullnose while costing roughly 50 percent less than a granite slab.

Stone & Cement Décor

-If you’re trying to achieve the “Old World” look in your kitchen, you may have found that Tuscan-style stone or cement range hoods can cost several thousands of dollars and even more for installation. Euro Cast Design’s Cast Travertine Kitchen Hoods, made of pre-cast crushed travertine, are much cheaper, weigh 70 percent less than cement and stone range hoods, can be installed in less than half an hour, and can be purchased for as little as $1,100, depending on which style you prefer. 

Tin Backsplashes

-CNN Money says that “a perfect patina on a tin backsplash adds loads of character to a kitchen, but that look can take decades to achieve and finding one for a remodel is a pricey proposition.” Fortunately, ACP’s Façade, made of a composite thermoplastic, costs only $4 per square foot (whereas real tin costs double that, or more). This backsplash is relatively new—it was introduced at ACP’s 2007 show, has a faux patina immediately out of the box.

Towel Warmers

-Though you may be fooled by their simplistic design and seemingly-flimsy nature, towel warmers are sometimes quite expensive. Myson, a normally pricey retailer, has released two budget-conscious towel warmers (Pearl and Diamond) that range in price from $200 to $400, depending on finish and style.

Appliances

-Bosch, a well-respected appliance brand, is known for its pricey products. The cost of the new Ascenta dishwasher, however, was made with smaller budgets in mind. The new dishwasher doesn’t, however, lack “all the bells and whistles the company is known for.” The Ascenta features exceptional energy efficiency, quiet operation, and a stainless-steel tub for a suggested retail price ranging from $549 to $799.

Faucets

-Whether placed in your kitchen or bath, decorative faucets are often very expensive. The Arden Collection from Grohe, however, runs between $249 and $329, or half of the price of most of Grohe’s other faucets. The Arden Collection will fit into both modern and traditionally-decorated bathrooms, and the faucets are WaterSense-certified and available in Grohe’s WaterCare line, which is made up of products that are designed to use 30 percent less water than other faucets.

Go Green

-Though some companies will try to convince you that going green is a costly luxury, it does not have to cost extra to make your kitchen or bath eco-friendly. Bamboo has often been used in kitchen and bathroom products because it is rapidly renewable and has a smaller environmental footprint. It hasn’t been seen in the mass market recently, but Rio Grande Imports has just introduced the Zoom sink, available for just $332.

Get the Look

-Cheaper versions of products that closely resemble the costlier models can be found easily—if you know where to look. Sterling has a stainless steel sink that looks like costlier models because of the large X stamped on the bottom, something that is usually exclusive of more expensive sinks. The Sterling version, however, sells for $408 for a double basin and $487 for a single and has rounded corners that simplify cleaning and prevent the piling up of debris.

Forget the Frame

-Many people argue that details make a design, but these details can get pretty expensive when it comes to re-vamping your kitchen or bathroom. Mirrorscapes by Moen (available only through wholesale dealers) allow you to get the look of a custom frame on any wall-mount, plate-glass mirror. Moen offers 5 styles, ranging from modern to classic, as well as several metallic and wood finishes that coordinate well with faucets and cabinetry. Paintable versions are also available for further customization. A 4-foot-by-8-foot Moen mirror ranges in price from $236 to $339.

Though you often hear in the news that the U.S. is in the midst of a “sub-prime mortgage crisis,” it is often hard to understand exactly what this means if you don't know the terminology. A sub-prime mortgage is defined by investopedia.com as:

“A type of mortgage that is normally made out to borrowers with lower credit ratings. As a result of the borrower’s lowered credit rating, a conventional mortgage is not offered because the lender views the borrower as having a larger-than-average risk of defaulting on the loan. Lending institutions often charge interest on sub-prime mortgages at a rate that is higher than a conventional mortgage in order to compensate themselves for carrying more risk.” 

Investopedia says that borrowers with credit ratings that fall below 600 will often be “stuck” with these mortgages along with higher interest rates. Borrowers who make late bill payments or declare personal bankruptcy may qualify for this type of mortgage only, so it is practical for borrowers with lower credit scores to wait a while and build up their credit scores before applying for a mortgage in order to ensure their eligibility for a less risky conventional mortgage.  

In short, it is very important to have good credit if you ever want to borrow money. If your credit score isn’t at its best right now, wait until it’s stronger before you apply for a loan—you’ll be glad you did!