Posting for

Thursday, May 18, 2000

by: Bert Rush

brush@firstam.com

HOME IMPROVEMENTS/REMODELING/RENOVATIONS/EAGLE POLICY

It's "tool time" across the U.S.A., as Americans are remodeling and renovating their homes like never before. No better time to remind realtors and their clients of the benefits of the EAGLE owner's policy!

An article in the May 17, 2000, edition of the Wall Street Journal reports that "sales of sheetrock, lumber and other renovation goods rose 9.5%, to about $162.9 billion, last year, according to the Home Improvement Research Institute, of Tampa, Fla." And get this: The lion's share of these sales were to homeowners, do-it-yourselfers, who now outbuy contractors three-to-one.

The Journal article chronicles the misadventures of many of these homeowners, some whose projects dragged on for years. To view the article, click on the URL below (and don't stop reading 'til you learn about the guy who blew up his house).

The point, of course, is that many home improvements are completed without permits from local authorities. When these homes are resold, new owners may inherit the problems of having to bring non-permitted work into compliance with building codes or, worse, of having to pay for demolition.

This is a risk covered by the EAGLE policy, subject to a Deductible Amount and a Maximum Dollar Limit of Liability. A great "talking point" for realtors, home buyers, and lenders.

Another article, from the April 24, 2000, edition of Real Estate Finance Today, predicts that the remodeling and renovation trend is expected to continue, and escalate. According to a report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University, rehab spending is expected to increase by 35% by the year 2010. To view the REFT article, click on the URL below.

If you see a particularly good "do-it-yourselfer" cartoon, please send it in. We might work it into future advertising for the EAGLE policy.

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Following Thursday's posting, Dena Cruz (San Francisco) writes:

Just to give you some idea of the amount of remodeling/construction going on out there:

THE HOME DEPOT® REPORTS 29% INCREASE IN FIRST QUARTER NET EARNINGS; COMPARABLE STORE SALES UP 7%

ATLANTA, May 16, 2000 - The Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement retailer, today reported net earnings of $629 million ($0.27 per diluted share) for the first quarter of fiscal 2000, up 29% from net earnings of $489 million ($0.21 per diluted share) in the first quarter of fiscal 1999.

Sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2000 totaled $11.112 billion, an increase of 24% from the first quarter of fiscal 1999. Comparable store sales for the first quarter of fiscal 2000 rose 7% from the same period last year. Strong sales for the quarter were driven by more than 223 million customer transactions and a 3% increase in the average sale per transaction.

During the first quarter of fiscal 2000, The Home Depot opened 41 new stores and relocated one store. At the end of the first quarter of fiscal 2000, the company operated a total of 971 stores with an aggregate of approximately 105 million square feet of selling space. The stores included 892 Home Depot stores, 15 EXPO Design Centers, and 2 Villager's Hardware stores in the United States; 56 Home Depot stores in Canada; 4 Home Depot stores in Chile; and 2 Home Depot stores in Puerto Rico.

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Following up on last Thursday's posting, Dena Cruz (San Francisco) forwarded the article below from Individual.com, Inc., with the following comment:

Perhaps we should consider a similar alliance with Home Depot (since it is a good client) and with a team of contractors (to the extent H.D. can't provide it) to do our bids (and potential work) under the Eagle Policy. Especially, if we are going to cease including the Western Regional exceptions in these policies.

HERE IS THE STORY WE WERE REQUESTED TO SEND YOU

This story appeared on http://www.individual.com May 24, 2000

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Allstate and Home Depot Team Up to Tackle Insurance Repairs

NORTHBROOK, Ill., May 23 /PRNewswire/ via NewsEdge Corporation - The Allstate Insurance Company and The Home Depot (NYSE: HD) today announced a unique alliance to make home insurance repairs available to Allstate customers with materials from Home Depot stores.

The agreement allows Allstate insurance adjusters to work with Home Depot's 977 U.S. stores to provide repair materials and installation at reasonable prices. Use of Home Depot is at the customer's option. Initially the agreement will apply to flooring replacement, with Home Depot providing the materials and installation.

"We're delighted to be working with Allstate and their policyholders, who are in our stores every day," said David Suliteanu, president of diversified business for Home Depot. "Home Depot and Allstate's goals are the same: provide the end customer with the best service experience, with the broadest selection of quality material and labor."

Allstate said the arrangement will have a significant impact on its claims expenses.

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurance company. Its main business units include Allstate Personal Property and Casualty, which provides insurance for more than 14 million households and has approximately 15,500 agents in the U.S. and Canada, and Allstate Life and Savings, which markets a number of life insurance and savings products under a variety of brands through a number of channels and is currently the nation's 17th largest life insurance business. Allstate maintains a website at www.allstate.com .

SOURCE: The Allstate Insurance Company

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Following up on our posting for Thursday, 5/18/00, and Dick Holloway's reply, Rob Reeder (Atlanta) writes:

Having just returned from the national I.C.S.C. convention in Las Vegas, I had numerous voice mails and e-mails regarding Dick's comments on Home Depot. He had to do it in my absence because he knew I was opposed to such flagrant self promotion. However, he did do a reasonable job of camouflage. Until his comments about me. But, as you can see, we are very proud of our relationship with "Depot", which reflects well on our entire First American network. This is a challenging account and could not be maintained without the efforts of all our title operations. Thanks to all who have helped in that regard!