Figuratively Speaking: Homeowners choose do-it-yourself jobs

Percentage of respondents who ranked painting walls as the most common household remodeling project completed within the last five years: 70

Ranks of installing plumbing fixtures (25 percent) and installing cabinets (24 percent) that homeowners perceive as the most difficult remodeling projects to do yourself: 1,2

Choosing a business location

Ranks of Hawaii, New York and Alaska as the most expensive states for business, measured by wage costs, tax burden, electricity costs, industrial rent costs and office rent, according to the Milken Institute’s “Cost-of-Doing-Business Index”: 1, 2, 3

Rank of South Dakota, Iowa and North Dakota as the least expensive states in which to do business: 1, 2, 3

Turning homes into income

Percentage of homeowners who have received reverse mortgage loans who said they needed the funds because their budget was too tight, according to a survey conducted by Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Greater Atlanta: 19

Percentage who said they needed more liquid assets on hand: 16

Percentage who said the money was needed for repairs and maintenance: 15

Percentage who needed to care for dependents and/or pay medical bills: 8

High-cost hometowns

Ranks of 06831 (Greenwich, Conn.), 92661 (Newport Beach, Calif.), 06830 (Greenwich, Conn.), 92625 (Corona Del Mar, Calif.) and 90265 (Malibu, Calif.) among the most expensive ZIP codes in the United States based on median home price, according to a study conducted by BusinessWeek.com: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Median price of a single-family home in 06831: $2,983,000

Median price of a single-family home in the 275 richest U.S. ZIP codes: $750,000

Popularity contest

Ranks of California, Florida and Hawaii as the most popular states where people would choose to live, according to a poll by Harris: 1, 2, 3

Ranks of New York City, San Diego and Seattle as the most popular cities where people choose to live: 1, 2, 3

Market snapshots

Ranks of Killeen, Texas; Minot, N.D.; Arlington, Texas; and Canton, Ohio among the least-expensive real estate markets in the United States, according to a survey of 400 cities conducted by Coldwell Banker: 1, 2, 3, 4

Cost of an average home in Killeen, Texas: $136,725

U.S. average home cost: $422,343

Cost of an average home in Dublin, Ireland, the most-expensive international real estate market in which Coldwell holds an office: $2.1 million

Across the pond

Cost per square foot to buy a city-center condominium in London, England, according to the Global Property Guide: $7,393

Cost for 393 square feet: $2.91 million

Monthly rent for such a property: $12,989

Idle Thought

“Every man feels instinctively that all the beautiful sentiments in the world weigh less than a single lovely action.”

—James Russell Lowell, writer

John MacIntyre is an author and former city magazine editor. His “Figuratively Speaking” column, launched in 1989, is published in more than 40 newspapers and magazines.