Style Post: Homearama – An Introduction
July 29, 2010 · Comments
Preparations are under way for the 2010 Homearama Event in Patriot’s Landing. Sponsored by HBAR, and hosted by East-West Partners, the event will showcase 6 fully decorated, energy efficient homes and is expected to draw thousands of people. Our home will have a number of creative and fun ideas. The master bath tub was special ordered and delivered to our office today!
It will also utilize numerous energy efficient construction techniques, and it will be Energy Star certified by a third-party inspector. One of the most innovative energy efficient features is the Links System from Schlage / Trane. This system allows you to use your computer and/or smart phone to control door locks, lighting, cameras and thermostats remotely. When someone enters your home while you are away, you are notified by text message. You can adjust thermostat settings at any time, from any where. Check out this video for a short overview of the system and it’s various components:
You can also learn more about the system on Schlage’s web site.
Stay tuned to our blog over the summer for more updates about our Homearama house, and some of the creative features!
Style Post: Giving Back
July 01, 2010 · CommentsIn the book, Small Giants by Bo Burlingham, there is a lot of discussion about a business’s “mojo.” Specifically, he says that “Mojo comes, in part, from an active appreciation of a business’s potential to make a positive difference in the lives of the people it comes into contact with.”
Our company, Lifestyle Builders & Developers, recently made a decision to donate net proceeds from the sale of our Homearama entry to the Children’s Hospital Foundation.
While we are still in the process of putting this project together, we are finding the generosity of our trades – the product and service providers – that make building a home possible, to be overwhelming. Many are stepping up to the plate to offer free or discounted products and services, in order to benefit this worthy cause.
It may seem like a strange time to be making donations such as this. Times are tough for all of us in the homebuilding industry. But this is only a season in a cyclical industry. Over time, the industry will recover. Families that have been touched by tragedy, however, will live with those realities for the rest of their lives.
Going to work every day is about more than profits and losses. It is about more than balance sheets. It is also about the impact that we have on other people’s lives. It is about community, service, and giving back. It is about the “mojo” of our companies. As businessman Danny Meyer puts it (in Small Giants), it is about “business having soul. He believed soul was what made a business great, or even worth doing at all. ‘A business without soul is not something I’m interested in working at,’ he said.”
Our team at LifeStyle Builders & Developers has soul. I see it every day. I am proud to be a part of a project that benefits our community, and gives our people an opportunity to show their soul.
On The Level: A House Becomes a Home
June 22, 2010 · CommentsHouses are funny, as far as purchases go. Not like cars or boats and things that are generally mass produced and shipped wherever. Houses are built in a specific place, often for specific people. And it’s in that, that they are completely different from all those other things. Houses become homes.
Houses are as different as people. No matter how many times a particular model is built, one is never like any other. And I don’t just mean that no lot is ever quite is the same. Of course selections differ and the trees and how the sun hits a house will always vary. But in the sense that once you move in a house, it becomes your home. Unique to you and unlike any other.
That occurred to me as I waded through the learning curve of building a house for the first time. I, of course, was focused on the logistics of scheduling. How A comes before B, and so fourth. But once the house was complete and someone moved in, I thought about how that house is going to be the backdrop for moments in these people’s lives for years to come. Rooms won’t just be dimensions contributing to the total square footage anymore. They will become offices and baby rooms. From the moment the first piece of furniture goes through the front door, it ceases being a lot number on a neighborhood plat, and becomes where memories are made on graduation nights and anniversaries.
So I realized no matter how many times I run the same schedule on the same floor plan, to the people who move in, it is a house like no other. It’s their home, regardless of who else may eventually live there; they can always drive by and remember super bowl parties and family dinners. It became a more significant way to spend my day, not building a house for someone to buy, but a home for someone to live in.
Did You Know: Property Taxes
June 17, 2010 · CommentsPROPERTY TAXES
Between 2006 and 2009, property values dropped 21% nationally. According to the National League of Cities, 25% of American cities raised their property tax rates in 2009. Like it or not, local governments depend on property taxes to pay for schools, police, libraries and other services. So it does not follow that just because property values drop that property tax bills will follow. You may wish to consider contesting your latest property tax bill. If so, call your local tax assessor’s office and ask about the process. Then here’s what you do. Check your assessment for correct land size, house size, and other imporvements. Collect information on at least 3 recent sales in your neighborhood that show your value is lower. They need to be properties similar to yours. Take Photos if your home needs repairs that would lessen its value. File On Time. In some areas, missing an appeals deadline could mean a year wait for a second chance.
Style Post: Selecting the Right Community
June 16, 2010 · CommentsWhen it comes to selecting the right floor plan for their new home, homebuyers often spend a great deal of time walking through decorated model homes, finished homes, and homes under construction to find the perfect plan. Many prospective buyers browse the internet looking at elevations and floor plans online. While this process is important, the selection of the right floor plan should come after the right community is chosen. Here are four questions that should help narrow the search:
- What part of town do we want/need to live in? Most often, the part of town is dictated by such considerations as school district, proximity to work or friends or family, or some other high level need that makes one area more desirable than another. Before choosing a plan, eliminate at least 75% of the locations because they do not meet some or all of the requirements listed above.
- What type of neighborhood do we desire? Some buyers want subdivisions with full amenity packages such as pool, golf, or tennis. Other buyers specifically do not want a neighborhood with a Home Owner Association that dictates rules that each house must conform to. Wanting a neighborhood with children the same ages as your own for playmates is often a major consideration for young families. Age-restricted neighborhoods are often the perfect pick for the empty nester buyer and may be the driving force in the selection process.
- What price range of house do we want to target? Once geographic location and type of neighborhood has narrowed the search, the price range of the homes for sale should be used to further define the 2 or 3 neighborhoods that fit within the search criteria. As we all know, the value of the location and the size of the homes being built has a direct impact on the price range of every community. We may want a golf course neighborhood, but don’t want to pay the price these homes end up costing. Price range is usually a consideration and can be used to limit the search.
- What size of lot do we want? Finally, we can narrow the search even more by deciding upon the desired lot size. Some communities on well-located (and expense) land, often contain small lots that keep the price range of the homes within limits. Communities with larger lots may be located further out from the central business district where land is less expensive. In some cases the limitations of the lot size may eliminate certain types of houses such as single story plans simply because the house will not fit on the smaller lot. If lot size is important, it can help eliminate some of the neighborhoods under consideration.
All of the above considerations precede the actual selection of a floor plan. By answering the four questions, you can eliminate a lot of the community choices and make the selection process much less confusing and more time efficient.
