Typical business owners pay their utility bills like clockwork, no questions asked. But they shouldn’t, at least not without first checking them for errors, according to commercial watchdog companies hired by businesses to root out billing mistakes and incorrect rates.

These companies say they discover mistakes in four out of every five clients’ utility bills. One said it uncovered errors in a New York college’s phone bills totaling $400,000. And another reported it helped a South Carolina laundry discover overpayments of $3,200 on its electric bill.

Of course, homeowners are not likely to find gaffes as large as these on their own bills, which is why the auditors rarely take on residential clients. They simply can’t make enough money for the time they would spend reviewing your bills.

But you can go over your own bills. Sure, it takes some patience, but the result could pay off, according to Steve Mann, president of Utilities Reduction Specialists in Clemmons, N.C.

“You have the right to check your utility bills, and you should,” Mann says. “Errors may be smaller, but they occur just as often. Frequently, it’s just human error. But if the mistakes go undetected, they mount up and get bigger and bigger.”

Start by making sure you are being charged the least expensive rate possible.

The ease or difficulty of this step depends on your utilities’ rate structures. Fortunately, while most power and water companies have hundreds of tariff calculations for businesses, they usually don’t have more than a few for residences.

While you’re at it, check to see if you qualify for any special energy-saver programs. Even if the company has only one residential rate, it might offer a discount if you install special energy-saving equipment or if you allow your systems to be cut back during peak heating and cooling periods.

Mistakes in residential accounts are often easy to spot, especially if your bills have been fairly consistent. To find them, simply make side-by-side comparisons of several months’ charges, or at least look back into your checkbook to compare the total amounts you paid for the last few months.

Even if nothing strikes you as irregular, check every bill for mathematical slips. These kinds of errors are fairly common, audit specialists say. Sometimes, it’s nothing more than a misplaced decimal point, so do the math yourself.

If you think your bill is out of line, ask for an explanation. Most utility companies are easy to work with. “They want their customer bills to be correct and will go to extremes to satisfy clients who find discrepancies,” says Mann, the North Carolina auditor.

An error could be as simple as a misread meter, or perhaps a malfunctioning one. The meter could be sticking, for example. Or it could be incorrectly calibrated. And sometimes your bill could be based on an estimated reading — or every once in a while, on your neighbor’s meter.

Water meters are most likely to be defective, and water bills are the most frequently estimated. Often, water bills are estimated, month after month, because no one is home when the meter reader comes by. And sewer charges usually are based on water usage.

Phone companies are notorious among utility auditors for overcharging their business customers, and they often do the same to residential clients. Moreover, their billing systems are far and away the most complicated, so their errors are the most difficult to spot.

At the same time, your phone bill is likely to yield the greatest savings. First, check the add-on charges. “Half the cost of many local telephone bills are regulatory fees, which are sometimes applied incorrectly,” Mann says.

If you are part of the growing legion of people who make all their long-distance calls on cellphones, you might be paying for a land-line service you no longer need. Many people are paying for long-distance service they don’t use, the utility-bill auditor says. If you still use your land line for long distance, you could be the victim of “rate creep.” The rate you received may have been attractive when you signed up with your carrier five years ago, but it could be much higher now.

When home sales softened late in 2005, many sellers decided to take their homes off the market and wait until the spring flowers surfaced — along with the traditional housing season — to lure potential home buyers. While sellers enjoyed modest appreciation in many areas of the country early in 2006, the second half was a totally different matter.

Could the New Year possibly restart the positive cycle?

Some economists believe the pull-and-wait strategy might have been premature given the amount of expected inventory in early 2007.

There could be as many pent-up buyers as pent-up sellers, especially if the home is priced correctly. Let’s compile an annual list of what’s “in” for housing this year, what is definitely “out,” and several items that are “on the way out.” The list is a result of input from Realtors from around the country who, in turn, had solicited feedback from home buyers and sellers as they visit resale and new homes.

“Savvy buyers” were high on the “in” list for 2007, plus a few other interesting housing predictions:

* Savvy buyers. With interest rates historically low and pent-up demand from a soft year in 2006, the deals and lack of frenzy won’t last long. “Deferred demand” from 2006 could ignite a mini-frenzy in some markets.

* Market timing. Many buyers and sellers were on their own timelines in 2006 and they missed opportunities that were created by not recognizing the real estate market’s ebb and flow. Spring is high market, the most demand by the largest number of buyers. Summer is a good market, fall is fair, and winter is the remnant market, the leftover buyers and sellers from the high, good and fair markets.

* Homes that are priced right. It isn’t the boom market of 2005. Look at only the sold comparables from the last six months. Forget the cocktail party chitchat when all you heard was record home prices in the shortest market times in U.S. history.

* Upscale garages. It’s no longer the out-of-sight, out-of-mind dumping ground. Today’s garage owners want them decked out with cabinet and storage systems, mini-refrigerators, insulation, heating and air conditioning, and durable but residential-looking flooring.

* Caving. Man caves and Mom caves are coming out of the closet. Personal dedicated space for one person in a household where he/she can go and work on projects or “chill” without being disturbed — and if so, only in an emergency.

* Two home offices. Rising gas prices and commuting times have created more work-at-home families. Size matters, so make sure each room is at least 10-by-10 feet.

* Rejuvenation rooms. A one-stop space for exercising, meditation, yoga, sauna and fancy steam showers. Showers are going upscale, too. Waterfall fixtures and programmable temperature and water flow are the next trend.

What’s Out?

* Selling home “as is.” Anything went in the boom market, but if you’re planning to use “as is” in 2007, forget it. It’s a two-word kiss of death. Buyers see it as a red flag about the home and you, the seller. You have too much competition to be chasing buyers away.

* Buyer incentives. Free cars don’t sell houses; realistic pricing does. Gimmicks only confuse and distract buyers. Cut to the chase and deduct the cost of your freebie from your current price and send the signal to buyers that you’re selling real property not personal property.

On the Way Out

* Bamboo floors. The first reviews are in on this popular eco-friendly flooring, and they’re not pretty. This material is easily dented and scratched, and prone to warping from variations in our climate and humidity levels.

* Hardwood laminate floors. The word is out that these noisy, cheaper relatives of solid hardwood don’t stand up to multiple sanding to change color or to remove stains.

“What type of borrower finds it advantageous to take an FHA loan?”

The answer to this question is a little different today than in 2000 when I first addressed it because FHA’s market niche is smaller. This reflects developments in the conventional sector that have not been matched by FHA, including the growth in popularity of loans with no down payment, interest-only monthly payments, and option ARMs. Reflecting these developments, FHA’s market share fell from about 15 percent in 2000 to about 5 percent in 2006.

The FHA Market Niche in 2006. An FHA borrower:

* Has blemished credit acceptable to FHA, but not strong enough for prime pricing in the conventional market.

* Doesn’t need a loan larger than the FHA maximum, which varies by county. (In 2006, it ranged from $200,160 to $362,790 in the highest-cost counties.)

* Can put 3 percent down in cash.

* Doesn’t want an interest-only mortgage or an option ARM.

Credit Requirements: At risk of oversimplifying, credit standards in the conventional market range from A+ to D-, and within that range, FHA would be about B- or C+.

FHA credit requirements overlap the higher levels of subprime requirements. A good illustration is the underwriting rules applicable to a prior foreclosure. With exceptions, FHA won’t accept a loan applicant who has had a foreclosure within the prior three years. Subprime lenders may have a three-year rule for their best credit grade, but the period scales down by degrees and might be only one year for the lowest grade.

Similarly, the maximum ratio of total debt service to income acceptable to FHA is 41 percent, which is generally high relative to prime standards, but well below what passes in the nonprime sector.

A borrower who meets FHA credit standards will usually do better with an FHA loan than with a subprime loan, despite having to pay a mortgage insurance premium. The rate will be lower, the borrower will have access to a large menu of mortgages, and there are no prepayment penalties. Most mortgages in the subprime market are 2-year adjustables with large margins, which means a high probability of a rate increase after two years, and they have prepayment penalties, usually for three years.

Loan Limits: The loan limits on FHAs are a major deterrent. HUD has asked Congress to allow the same loan amounts on FHAs as on loans purchased by Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. In 2006, this would have meant an increase to $417,000 uniform across the country.

Down Payment Requirements: In 2000, FHA’s 3 percent down payment compared with 5 percent on most conventional loan programs. In 2006, however, zero-down loans were widely available in the conventional sector, while the FHA minimum of 3 percent remained unchanged. Since zero-down loans have long been available under the VA program, FHA is now the only sector that does not have them.

This disadvantage of FHA is partially offset by down-payment-assistance programs available to FHA borrowers. One form of such assistance is second mortgages at preferential rates, which is the preferred method of public agencies at the city, county or state levels. These agencies have their own eligibility rules independent of FHA.

A second form of assistance is cash contributions from nonprofit corporations. These have no repayment obligation, but the funds provided come from home sellers who take account of the contribution in setting their sales prices.

Neither type of assistance is a good substitute for a zero-down program, a bill for which was introduced in Congress in 2004. So far, however, it has not been passed.

Interest-Only Mortgages and Option ARMs. These instruments exploded in popularity after 2000, but were not available under FHA and there is little likelihood that they ever will.

Prospects For a Revival in FHA’s Market Share. Congressional authorization of no-down-payment loans and a rise in loan limits would increase FHA’s market share. So would an increase in public awareness that some subprime borrowers would qualify for, and do better with FHA loans.

A marked increase in FHA’s market share would result from an explosion in foreclosures, which would cause a drastic restriction of lending terms in the conventional sector. This is not something I would care to see, but if it happened we will be pleased that FHA was there to help cushion the blow.