Ask The Post

This Week: Business features editor Nancy McKeon was online Wednesday, August 10 at Noon ET to field your questions about The Post's Real Estate, Home and Sunday Business sections.

The transcript follows.

____________________

Nancy McKeon: Good afternoon. I'm Nancy McKeon and I edit the Sunday Business section and consult with the editors of the Home and Real Estate sections. There are already some questions here, but feel free to pile on. I also am one of the editors who write what we call the "key rail" on the front page of the daily Business section--that's the annotated list of all the stories inside the section, and those elsewhere in the paper that relate to our business coverage. I'd love to hear any opinions about it. Here goes.

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: Hey,

Did you ever think of hiring Nunyo Demasio from the sports section?

Then, he could answer the phone "Nunyo, business section".

Nancy McKeon: Hee-hee . . . well, now that we have that out of someone's system. . . .

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: I think The Post does a good job with a lot of its personal finance reporting....but I find myself wishing that you had a columnist like Michelle Singletary, but with a different voice/outlook. I find some of her advice/opinions too colored by her own experiences as a child and now as a parent.

It would be interesting to read a counter point of view/advice from a peer who is struggling through the same milestones that I am (student loans/first car/first house/credit card debt/investments/etc.), rather than simply offering advice in hindsight.

Nancy McKeon: You propose an interesting idea, but I'm afraid space and money are finite things. And Michelle Singletary, as you know, addresses all the topics you mention. In fact, she has a phenomenal following because of her commonsense response to these down-home topics. It's true that she has come out on the other side of these financial growing pains, but that's how she has accumulated the wisdom for her column (that and a lot of reporting!). She's the older sister who's been through it and wants to keep you from messing up.

_______________________

San Francisco, Calif.: I miss the investment advice about specific companies that Fred Barbash, and later, James Glassman, used to provide in weekly columns. I hope someone could be found to continue the work that they began. Is this under consideration?

Nancy McKeon: You bet it is. Fred and Jim are two tough acts to follow, though. The Assistant Managing Editor for Financial, Jill Dutt, and I have looked at about two dozen candidates without success so far. For those who don't know, Fred Barbash and Jim Glassman wrote a weekly investment column that was very stock-specific without touting companies and without losing sight of a basic belief in long-term investing.

We do have a regular run of columns in the interim, a weekly profile of a mutual fund and a fairly regular commentary by Chet Currier, a veteran market observer. The mutual fund pieces are interesting even for those who want to make their own individual purchase decisions, because you get to hear the thinking of fund managers as they talk about companies they believe in and why. As always, you have to evaluate the information yourself and decide whether and when to pull the trigger. But, as you obviously appreciate, reading as much as you can get your hands on is always helpful (although reading the footnotes in companies' 10-Ks would probably be more helpful!).

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: I'd like to see more investing advice writing in terms of various sectors of the business world. The personal finance is great but tends to tone more towards things a regular investor already knows (don't spend more then you earn, use 401k and IRA accounts,...). While I use my various brokerage's news information unfortunately that tends to be partial since at the end of the day they want you to buy their products. Keep up the good work!

Nancy McKeon: I agree, and am trying to get more specific coverage into the Sunday section, which is more oriented toward consumers than the daily Business pages.

_______________________

Bored 2: Thanks for the article today about bored workers. I've experienced that on a couple of jobs. It is a miserable feeling. Really hurts the self esteem. No one wants to work in a sweat-shop atmosphere, but being busy beats being underutilized every time.

Nancy McKeon: Agreed--there's not much worse. But with all the talk we hear about increased productivity among American workers, I'm surprised to have to crop up from time to time. I thought we were all overburdened wretches without enough vacation!

_______________________

Refinancing: Hi, can you touch on the basics of refinancing? Do you need a chunk of cash like at the closing again, or is it just a bunch of paperwork? I got my first mortgage in March, it's a 80/15/5 type and I'm wondering if I should consider a refi since I just got a new job with a higher salary in order to get rid of that fluctuating 15-part. What say you? Thanks!

Nancy McKeon: Remember, even a no-cost refi starts the amortization clock all over again, from scratch. Is there anything in your loan papers that would keep you from paying down the adjustable portion of the mortgage loan first, using the extra cash you'll now have? I'm the wrong one to ask about refinancing--I've done it so many times I just don't want to go through the paperwork hassle again for a long, long time.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Thanks for doing this chat. I haven't seen one of my favorite writers in some time - Frank Ahrens - is he still with The Post?

Nancy McKeon: Yes, yes! Frank is on a short leave. He'll be back in the fall--not to worry!

_______________________

Fairfax County, Va.: Just a note to tell you I absolutely live for the Real Estate Mail Bag syndicated column in your Real Estate section. It is a Saturday tradition and I always read aloud some of the questions and answers to others in my family.

Some of the ones I read are funny or pitiful (about the absurd situations people manage to get themselves into, week after week) but there's always basic good consumer info to take away. I am a 40-something but am amazed when my peers are wrestling with whether their parents should get a reverse mortgage, and don't even know what one is. Read the Mail Bag!

Nancy McKeon: I'm with you--I've been reading Bob Bruss's Real Estate Mail Bag for about 20 years now. It's true that questions are answered over and over again, but they're asked over and over again. Aside from enthusiasts like you and me, the readers of the column, I think, are like those who read bridal magazines--they have intense interest for a period of time, then drift away. But if you stick with it, you'll be amazed and amused on a weekly basis--and learn stuff along the way.

_______________________

Washington, D.C. : I think the section is great. The stories are almost always interesting to me. I would love to see more stories on business trends. For example, I would love to see a consumer story about today's Ovitz case. In the aftermath of the ruling that his $140 million payoff for screwing up is totally OK--what protections do shareholders have? What can the investor do to protect himself, since the courts will not?

Nancy McKeon: Good questions. I think this is what our ongoing coverage of corporate governance is looking into over time. Maybe there's a bigger Sunday piece to be done--thanks!

_______________________

Springfield, Va.: Why has The Post business section refused to report on the loan scandal involving the Air America radio network?

Nancy McKeon: I'm not aware that we've refused to cover anything. I just spoke with a Style reporter who covers media, and he says it's being looked into.

_______________________

Washington, D.C. : Whatever happened to James Glassman?

Nancy McKeon: Jim was and indeed is a fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and the host of the Web site TechCentralStation. The reason he stopped writing his Post column was so he could go off and found a kind of "lobby" for individual investors. I haven't had an update on it, but I'm sure we'll be hearing from him soon.

_______________________

Baltimore, Md.: My wife and I are looking to get some kind of ownership foothold in the PG area. We've rented in Baltimore and would love to have a detached home; finances and high prices seem to make that impossible.

We may have found a condo for $140K near PG County. 3BR, 2B with a little yard. Not a whole lot, but it's something.

If we purchase the condo, will we build any decent equity? Should we wait until our finances allow us to step into the bloated detached home market? Many thanks!

Nancy McKeon: Real estate is a very, very local thing (you know the old saw--location, location, location? well, it's true). The condo market has been rising very fast in some areas of the Washington region, in part because detached house prices have gone so out-of-sight. I think it's hard to argue against owning something, but disasters have happened. If you like the condo you've found and like the location, why not think of the place as a home first and, if lucky, an investment? If it meets your criteria for the lifestyle you want, why wait? But please don't take my word for it--maybe the bloat will deflate and you'll have more opportunities later.

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Hi Ms. McKeon,

I've lived much of my life in Oregon, and it seems that out there Business and Home sections often discussed environmental issues. For instance, I recall an article on a new type of dry cleaners that just uses steam (since dry cleaning chemicals are pretty nasty), and an article on determining whether one's house was built with sustainable harvested wood.

Any chance we'll see more on environmental issues as it relates to business or home building?

Thanks.

Nancy McKeon: I know the Real Estate section recently did a piece on green building, and Home dips its toe into environmental issues from time to time. Real estate reporter Sandra Fleishman has a keen interest in these topics, so watch for her byline.

_______________________

Alexandria, Va.: Business Class is a great column. Any chance Keith could put out two or three columns a week?

Nancy McKeon: It's terrific that you're such a fan of Keith's column (so are a lot of people), but I don't think we can get more out of him until cloning is perfected!

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: I know you don't edit the daily business section but I have a kudo and a complaint. I love Steven Pearlstein's column, but am annoyed that the redesign of the business section has split the column onto 2 pages.

Thanks for letting me gripe!

Nancy McKeon: Steve Pearlstein's column is a gem, a regular destination for thoughtful readers. Sorry to make you jump to the inside, but we've been trying to make the section more organized and "navigable" (big word around here these days), hence the key-rail noting all the other stories available. Surely Steve is worth turning the page for!

_______________________

Arlington, Va.: Why doesn't Home do more on kitchen remodeling and renovations? It seems like everyone I know is ripping up their kitchen and putting in those cliched granite countertops. I'd like to know some new things to do with my ugly, dark 70's kitchen.

Nancy McKeon: I admit to an insatiable appetite for kitchen and bathroom remodeling stories, but there's lots of other things to cover in the wide world of home! I know what you mean, though--seems everyone is ripping and gutting and living through it (ahem). Home's editor, Belle Elving, is a survivor herself and is always on the lookout for a new take on a time-honored subject!

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Given the large number of nonprofits and associations located within the D.C. Metro area, why is it that there only seems to be coverage when there's a scandal?

There are many doing good work that benefit a lot of people, even those within the government and private sector. It would be great to read more -positive- stories on this specific community which impacts the lives of millions of people.

(And yes, I am employed by a nonprofit organization.)

Nancy McKeon: It's true that our focus becomes more intense when there are bodies to be uncovered. In fact, in our watchdog mode, that's what newspapers are supposed to do--point out the bad actors, keep people from falling for scams, etc. But every November for the past few years, we've dedicated a Sunday Business section to Charitable Giving, highlighting a whole swath of organizations that for the most part do their good works under the radar. Perhaps it's not enough, but we think it's a timely point of the year to do it.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Can you please stop withholding stories from your Saturday Business edition for Monday? It is obvious that you are doing this. The Saturday Business section is unbelievably weak. I enjoy reading The Post on Saturday over breakfast and am constantly disappointed with your Business section on that day. There is more space devoted to tables of stock and mutual fund quotes than there is space for stories. Who reads these tables anymore? If I want to get a stock quote I go to Yahoo like everyone else.

Nancy McKeon: It's true we have a lot less space on Saturdays. But any holding of stories is probably because Monday Business has such a sharp focus on local businesses that it has become a destination for those stories. When bigger national things happen, say over the weekend, you'll find the business stories in the A section.

Some newspapers have indeed decided to save space (and money, for newsprint) by killing the stock tables. We haven't seen fit to do that, at least not yet. I would ask for reaction, but since this is a Web chat it's a given that you all have easy access to the Internet and we wouldn't hear from those who don't. Myself, I check prices mostly online, but I do enjoy the comfort of the printed stock tables (the "agate") on a regular basis.

_______________________

Washington, D.C.: Hello Ms McKeon,

In The Post and other media outlets, trade disputes are usually cast as fights between domestic protectionists and foreign free-traders.

That's not inaccurate, but it misses a third, key player: the consumer.

Cheap garments from China may force U.S. producers out of business, but they're more affordable for poor people. For some poor families, Chinese garments from Wal-Mart are all they can afford.

Nancy McKeon: True, the consumer is the player who seems to be off the playing field when big trade disputes are reported. But that's the difference between reporting and refereeing. The trade disputes, though sometimes cloaked in terms of consumers, are political, and sometimes the consumer is the football. Now, having mixed enough metaphors for one answer, I'll halt!

_______________________

Silver Spring, Md.: Are you going to have more coverage of the general downslide in how retail customers are treated? Buying food, hardware, and clothing is even more of a chore, thanks to poor store layout, worthless clerks, and mindless checkouts.

Nancy McKeon: Check out the Sunday "In the Store" column, inside Business. And starting next month, Don Oldenburg will be bringing his "Consummate Consumer" column to Sunday Business.

_______________________

Nancy McKeon: Time is up and I can't get to all the questions--especially all of you who want to know if you should buy a bigger house/ buy your sister's house in Florida/ use your home equity to buy rental real estate! I don't know and I certainly shouldn't speculate!

_______________________

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.