When my Mom wasn’t within earshot my Dad would say, “What's worse than a Male Chauvinist Pig? A woman who won't do what she's told!” Needless to say, he thought he was being funny. The fact of the matter is, according to US Census data, 55% of loan officers are women. More and more single women own homes, a trend that is not lost on educated loan agents. Culling data from two studies that reveal what women think about home ownership and home maintenance, Sears found that 85 percent of women surveyed have been, are or expect to be solely responsible for a home at some point in their lives. More than half said they are already responsible for basic household maintenance and repair, either on their own or in conjunction with their spouse. However, 94 percent of them are concerned about getting a fair price from home maintenance professionals; 63 percent of them believe they are charged more than men for the same work and that good home repair professionals are harder to find than doctors, financial advisors or real estate agents. Only good lawyers were considered more difficult to find, according to one survey. "From the record numbers of single women buying a first home to those who are suddenly single as a result of divorce or the death of a spouse, more and more women are finding themselves responsible for a home," said Georgeann Georges, vice president of Sears Home Services. "Given that a woman's home is frequently her most valuable financial asset, women need to arm themselves with the knowledge and tools to keep their homes in good repair," said Georges.