Home Improvement Simplified

You have decided to start fixing up the house this year. You need to completely remodel the kitchen, paint all the ceilings, get new windows, and fix the roof on the garage, and that’s just the beginning of your home improvement list. Where are you going to find a reliable contractor to turn your humble abode into the house of your dreams? You’re not going to find what you are looking for in the yellow pages! You have tried that before and you didn’t get very far! Why don’t you use a contractor referral service? Homeowners Connections Inc is America's Premier Contractor Referral Service. We are a "Matchmaker" for Homeowners and Contractors. Our free service saves homeowners the time and hassle of researching and interviewing contractors. We pre-screen all of our member contractors to make sure that they are licensed, insured, bonded and leave their homeowners satisfied. The contractors will contact you directly to set-up the estimates. HCI is your one-stop shop for all your home improvement needs. And best of all it’s free.

We talk to each and everyone homeowner personally to make sure we know exactly what each home improvement project entails. We then connect the homeowner with the contractors and allow the homeowner to choose for themselves the right contractor for their project. We will follow up with every homeowner to make sure that the entire process, from selection to final completion, has been as smooth as we can make it. And best of all it's a free service to homeowners.

Using Homeowners Connections is simple:

• Fill out an estimate request.
• Answer a few questions from our professional, courteous staff so we can fully understand your needs
• Our staff reviews your project specifications and scope of work
• From our list of available member contractors, we select the ones we think would be most compatible with your project
• You sit back and relax! Our contractors will call you (usually within 24-48 hours) and set an appointment for a free estimate
• Our company follows up to make sure you have been contacted and to answer any questions you may have
• After receiving your estimates, you decide who will be awarded the project

Our contractors are independent business people, many of whom have been in business for over 10 years. They cover a wide variety of trades and a vast service area. Our contractors are craftsmen who know the value of customer service and strive for perfection.

Homeowners Connections is smart, convenient and best of all it's free!

Home improvement has never been easier.

Founded in 1999, Homeowners Connections is a member of the Palatine Area of Chamber of Commerce, and is commited to growing it's business in the Chicago Area. Homeowners Connections (HCI) matches homeowners with home improvrmrnt projects to pre-screened licensed and insured contractors able to do the work.

After a homeowner gives a project description to a customer service representative, HCI sends the homeowners contact information to qualified contractors who contact the homeowners within 72 hours to provide a free estimate on the project. HCI customer service representatives follow-up with the homeowner to make sure they have been contacted, and will continue to follow up with the homeowner throughout the project.

HCI does not guarantee the work of its members, and recommends all homeowners do their own interviewing of each member who provides a free estimate. However, HCI does assist homeowners and member contractors whenever possible to complete the job to everyones satisfaction.

Here are some press clippings about HCI, as well as some stories about the company reprinted from Chicago area publications.

A New Trend in Housing: What’s Old is New Again

Glenda Lehman Ervin and her husband Scott will have all of these things in the new home they’re building in Northeast Ohio, but you wouldn’t know it when you walk in the door. They’re designing their new home in such a way that it will have an old world feel with all the modern conveniences. “We’re a modern family with old world values, and we’re working hard to create a home that’s all about us,” says Glenda.

She and Scott are part of a growing trend of college-educated, modern, two-career couples who are looking into the past to create a perfect present. From the moment you pull up in the driveway of their new home, the Old World charm will shine through thanks to the Ervins’ builder, Old World Classics.

“We believe a home should be more about the people that live in it than a structure alone. That’s how we differ from most home builders,” says Andrew Eggeman, grandson of the founder of Old World Classics. “We provide each of our clients with a design consultant so that all the design elements can be thought of in the beginning. Design and architecture cannot be an afterthought.”

In the kitchen, the Ervins’ home will have cabinets and furniture hand-made by Schrock’s of Walnut Creek, a family owned business in Amish country. Their appliances will be modern, but look old. The Heartland Legacy range offers the precise response of a gas cooktop with the convenience and flexibility of a large electric convection oven; but it looks like it belongs in a French country cottage. The Heartland refrigerator with energy saving features even hides the ice maker to retain the old world style.

The gadget drawer will be filled with things she has brought home from her father’s store, Lehman’s, over the years. The store, founded in 1955 by Jay Lehman, had the original purpose of serving the needs of the Amish people who live without electricity. Today the business serves customers all over the world, from second-home owners to doctors in developing countries to the chronically nostalgic -- to modern families like the Ervins who want to preserve the past for future generations.

“Some day the simple way of life, whether it’s making applesauce or baking bread, might become extinct. We want our children to remember the old-time skills and tools that our grandparents used every day,” says Ervin.

The kitchen isn’t the only place where the cozy, warm feeling will come through. Ervin, her husband and their two young children will be able to gather around a wood stove they picked up at Lehman’s in the family room. “Some of my happiest memories from childhood are of times spent playing board games and reading books with my parents as we sat around the wood stove. I want the same for my kids, who are now five and nine years old,” she says.

Once they move into their new home this spring, the family will also be able to enjoy walks together in the nearby woods, and gardening. “Best of all, we’ll be in an environment that encourages us to spend more time together,” says Ervin. “It’s a process of turning inward, to your family and your home, instead of outward, to more plans, activities, lessons, events, quite frankly, the rat race.”

Courtesy of ARA Content

Adding a Pool Adds Value to Your Home

“One,” Jack said, “had a larger master bedroom and a slightly bigger kitchen.” “And a sexier bathroom,” Carol adds.

“But the other had a pool,” Jack said. “We went with the pool.”

We’ve all seen the ads in the local paper’s real estate section: 4BR, 3BA, walk to schools, huge MBR w/fireplace, fabulous landscaped yard, pool! Must see!

As with the Evans family, the pool is what stands out. A pool does make a house look more attractive to buyers. A recent study published by the National Association of Realtors backs that up.

G. Stacy Sirmans, Ph.D, a real estate professor at Florida State University in Tallahassee, conducted the study with colleague David A. Macpherson, Ph.D. They took a close and detailed look -- based on the selling data from more than 28,000 homes -- to see exactly what attributes contribute to the overall value of a home.

A house, of course, holds many different characteristics, all of which affect its value. A swimming pool, the study held, is an often-included characteristic in assessing a home’s value. What’s more, the authors write, “it is generally positive and significant.”

Consistently, across the country, pools proved to be positives. In fact, the study found, in-ground pools can increase the value of a residential property from 8 percent to as much as 15 percent.

Here’s how the study breaks it down across the United States:

* In the Northeast, a pool adds 4 percent to 6 percent to a home’s value.

* In the Southeast, the effect ranges from 5 percent to 10 percent.

* The Midwest is similar to the Northeast, with the average effect on value being about 6 percent.

* A pool seems to weigh in the most in the Southwest, where studies show the effect on a home’s value to be between 8 percent and 13 percent.

* A pool also is important in the West, but the effect on value -- while still positive -- is less consistent than in other areas. In the West, the average effect on value ranges from 5 percent to 13 percent.

Go outside and pools rank right up there with garages, decks and porches among the external features most frequently used in explaining selling prices. “A swimming pool,” the authors of the study conclude, “never has a negative effect on selling price although it has been not significant in some studies.”

What is significant is how homebuyers actually react to pools.

“Really, I haven’t run into any obstacles,” says Babs Simpson, a realtor with Boothby Realty Inc., in Birmingham, Ala. In fact, she loves showing homes with pools. “It’s fun to surprise (the buyers). You’ll be going through the house and all of a sudden they look out and say, ‘Ooohhhh.’”

A beautiful pool just invites homebuyers to imagine themselves having fun. A pool definitely is an asset, says Michelle Rogers, who for years sold real estate in Florida. “People can see themselves there. They picture themselves enjoying the pool. They might not see themselves right away in the seller’s pink bedroom, but they can picture themselves in the seller’s pool.”

Courtesy of ARA Content

Additions & Additions With Plans

1. How many square feet is the addition?
2. Where is the addition located (1st story, 2nd story, multi-floor, front, back)
3. Do they have a budget in mind?
4. Quote them an estimate of $125-$200 / square foot
5. Do they have plans?
6. Do they need financing?

Attention Contractors!

Homeowners Connections Inc. was founded with the goal to bridge the gap between homeowners and qualified residential contractors. Homeowners Connections services America's homeowners as the one stop shop for home improvement.

We are committed to helping our contractors improve their businesses in the area of quality, volume, and profitability by taking the leg work out for our member contractors. We are here to give outstanding customer service by communicating regularly with our member contractors to ensure that we are meeting their needs. Their questions and concerns must be addressed immediately with sincerity and resolve. Our success hinges upon having satisfied contractors who our impressed with our service.

Homeowners Connections, Inc. founded in 1999.  HOC represents over 2000 member contractors with more being added daily. Since inception, HOC has generated over $250,000,000 in revenues for member contractors. With over fifteen years of combined experience in the contractor referral service industry, HOC has proudly completed over 200,000 home improvement projects, and continues to beautify and remodel the homes in their own backyard.

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Available Services From Homeowners Connections Qualified Contractors