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July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

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Top Ten Features in New Homes

July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Construction

As the American economy starts to emerge from the recession and families start to buy homes again, there will be some notable changes in the new homes that are built. Americans are no longer looking to add on as many luxury features as they can in as large a home as they can afford to buy. Instead they are now carefully evaluating what their needs are, being conservative in their choices, and selecting homes and features that best fit their family’s needs.

This new attitude is showing in the recent change in overall size of new homes being built. In 2006, the median floor area of new single-family homes—which for the most part had trended upward for the past 35 years—peaked at 2,259 square feet. But as home buyers scaled back in the recession, the median square footage decreased to 2,107 square feet in 2009.

In its latest member surveys, the National Association of Home Builders found that builders are responding to changes in home buyer preferences. More than 96 percent of the builders said they planned to produce smaller homes in 2010, and 95 percent said they would offer lower-priced models.

The two features builders reported they were most likely to include were a walk-in closet in the master bedroom and a laundry room. These reflect consumers’ preference for practical features that make effective use of space and provide ample storage.

Of the top ten features most likely to be included in new homes, four provided opportunities for the home owner to save money by decreasing utility costs. They included an insulated front door, low-E windows, a programmable thermostat and energy-efficient appliances and lighting.

“Low-E” stands for low emissivity, which is glass that has special coatings to reflect infrared and damaging ultraviolet light. This keeps heat inside in winter and outside in summer, and protects interior furnishings from fading. Programmable thermostats can be set to automatically adjust the temperature at certain times of day, such as when the family is sleeping.

Among the features builders said they were least likely to include in new homes were smaller kitchens,  two-story foyers, media rooms, butler’s pantries and multiple shower heads in the master bathroom.

It’s a good idea to keep these features in mind if you plan to shop for a new home or to update your current home in order to make it more competitive when you do sell it.

Information Courtesy of National Association of Home Builders

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Benefits of Buying a New Home

July 28, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New home

Are you trying to decide between a new home and a resale?  Here are some of the benefits of buying a new home.

FAVORABLE PRICING

Competition among homebuilders makes new homes less likely to be overpriced. New homes are easy to compare with other new homes in the market equating value to value. The homes are the same age and options are declared up front with a price breakdown for comparative shopping.

NEW HOME WARRANTIES

New home buyers are assured of at least a one year warranty on the home itself, and in some cases two years on major appliances including air conditioning and heating systems.

HOMESITE SELECTION

Location. Location. Location. Being able to select just the right homesite is almost as important as choosing the proper home to fit the buyer’s lifestyle. Developers and homebuilders offer a wide selection of sites.

LATEST MATERIALS

Low maintenance is one of the most important features of the new homes being built today. New technology in building materials has made the homes of this decade virtually maintenance free, especially on the exterior. No longer does a homeowner have to worry about painting every 3-5 years.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

A new home built today is required by law to meet stricter energy codes than homes built in the past when past codes don’t exist or were much more lenient. Many homebuilders use materials that are designed to exceed the strict limits to produce future savings for the owner.

MODERN APPLIANCES

Appliance manufacturers introduce new models every year and homebuilders are able to offer the latest state-of-the-art equipment at the time of completing a new home. And, because the homebuilder buys for his entire production of new homes, his purchasing power can reduce the cost to the buyer.

FLOORPLAN OPTIONS

Builders of new homes offer a wide variety of functional floorplans to fit your lifestyle. If it’s not an inventory home, some builders also offer the opportunity to either eliminate or add rooms, upgrade materials, include special architecture and generally customize the home.

CHOICE OF FINISHING

With a new home it is possible for the buyer to be the decorator before moving in. Choices of carpet, wallcoverings, paint color, lighting fixtures, window treatments, etc. enables the new home owners to live with their personal selections and not be restricted by the taste of previous owners.

SECURING FINANCING

Securing financing is ithe major obstacle to home ownership. Most homebuilders have done the legwork for you. They have researched the market and negotiated the best rates for specific types of housing. Plus, many builders include closing costs in the price of their homes.

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Real Estate Trends – Tips for Buying Homes

June 30, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Owning real estate has grown as a profitable vehicle used to gain financial freedom for many investors.

It is very important to be aware of what is involved to ensure the success that is desired. One of the key factors is being aware of the trend. Purchasing real estate in an area where the trend is going down is counter productive. Buying a property because it is cheap should not be the only criteria contemplated before investing. This is where many real estate investors lose money.

You may have heard it said over and over, that you need to do your due diligence before purchasing a property. But what does that really mean? Basically this is like planning a well deserved vacation. You don’t just get up and book the first thing that pops up on the screen. You take the time to look up what is on offer based on how you want to spend your time on vacation. To book your vacation based on purely a cheap package could work out to be quite catastrophical.

Likewise to ensure you achieve a substantial return on your real estate investment it is important to select property that fulfills a specific criteria. A key component is being able to identify emerging real estate markets. This simple consists of identify specific indicators which will let you know before agreeing to anything whether or not your investment will be profitable right from the start.

Step 1
Look at the demographics of the area you are interested in and find out what the potential growth of the area will be like in the next 20yrs.

Step 2
Find out if this a place people want to live

Step 3
Find out whether or not the area is attracting jobs

This will give you a very clear picture from the outset how profitable your investment will be and save you the worry of losing out.

How can you find emerging real estate markets as a beginner? The answer is knowing where to look.

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