New Home Source Blog

Condos, Townhomes, or Houses: Which is Right for You?

Good question. When you're looking to buy a new home, one of the very first and most important decisions you have to make is whether to buy a condo, townhome, or single-family home. This decision will usually depend on both your budget and your lifestyle.

Single-family homes are considered a better investment, as home values are usually higher than those of condos or townhomes and because they tend to be easier to sell. Since you own the land and the structure, however, you're responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of every part of your new house. Consider whether you have the time, money, and desire to deal with the responsibilities this type of home requires.

With a new condo, you typically get more house for the money, but you only own the interior of your unit. You also share walls with your neighbors, perhaps on all sides (including above and below). On the other hand, because of the monthly association fees that are required with a condo, you don't have to worry about the exterior.

Townhomes are the middle-ground of homes and condos. While you might share walls with your neighbor, your own entrance from the street and usually a small area of yard give you the feeling of having a house. The required monthly association fees will cover some of the maintenance costs, but you're limited in what you may change on the exterior. A townhome is an excellent choice if you want to have the feeling of owning a home, but with a lower purchase price and less maintenance responsibility.

Luxury Home Spotlight: Fort Myers, FL

If you're looking for luxury in Fort Myers, check out the waterfront. The new-home communities in this southwest coastal city offer unsurpassed views and the ultimate in luxurious living.

High Point Place is a high-rise new home condominium community on the banks of the Caloosahatchee River in downtown Fort Myers. The community is within walking distance of the newly revitalized River District and offers 17 new condos and 18 city homes.

The Vistas at Belle Lago, Toll Brothers' newest exclusive neighborhood of luxury 2 to 4 bedroom single-family estate and villa homes, features 54 beautiful home sites. The surrounding nature preserves make for gorgeous panoramic views.

In Estero, near Fort Myers Beach, Bella Terra features beautiful northern Italian-style architecture located in a preserve paradise. It is a master-planned community, offering single-family homes and twin villas in a resort-style atmosphere. They're built with Lennar's signature, "Everything You Want, Everything You Need." The most-desired high quality features and upgrades are included.

Your luxury new home search in Fort Myers begins at NewHomeSource.com.

Checklist of Features to Request in Your New Home

An important part of buying a new home is making sure your home builder includes features that will make your life easier. As with most home infrastructure, it's much less expensive to install these features during construction than to add them later. There are hidden features that you might not have thought of but can transform a house into an automated "Smart Home."

• Communications: Given the amount of technology most homeowners use on a daily basis, it's critical that all rooms be wired for Internet access, phone, cable, satellite TV, and entertainment systems. You don’t really know how you might use certain rooms down the road, so it's better to be prepared and have the technology available everywhere in the house. Perhaps the next owner has advanced needs and having this capability will be a selling point. And don’t forget the outdoor spaces like porches, patios, and workshops where a lot of your time will be spent.
• Safety and Security: Security measures like smoke detectors, sensors, alarms, and even cameras are vitally important and can be centrally wired or set up to work wirelessly.
• Lighting: The lighting inside your new home and on the exterior can be automated to make your life easier and to make your home a safer place. Lights can be set to turn on at specified times and you can be alerted if lights were left on or came on at unexpected times.
• Comfort and Efficiency: In addition to saving on energy costs, automation of the heating and cooling systems in your new home will make your home more comfortable. A programmable system can regulate your indoor environment based on your schedule and habits. Save on energy costs by also scheduling the operation of systems like sprinklers and pool pumps.

Discuss these features with your builder before breaking ground. They'll add so much to your home, not just in efficiency, but in safety and comfort as well, and in many cases will pay for themselves.

Featured New Home City: Sacramento, CA

Sacramento, the bustling capitol of California, boasts previous mentions as one of the country's most livable cities and as Time Magazine's "most integrated" city in 2002. With over 400,000 residents, it's the cultural and economic core of the Sacramento Metropolitan Area.

The city of Sacramento is best known for its gold-rush history and has evolved considerably in recent years. It features two large universities; the UC Davis Medical Center; a thriving riverfront area with harbor; several notable museums, top restaurants, and nightlife spots; a number of theaters; more than 100 parks; and scenic trails by the American River Parkway.

Finding a new home in Sacramento is easy, particularly a new green home. Sacramento boasts many home builders that are partners with Energy Star, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

One such builder, Lennar, features several homes in Cazadero II at Kavala Ranch. These homes are built using Lennar's solar program, which combines solar electric systems with today's most innovative and energy efficient building practices and products.

The Cazadero new-home community offers five unique floorplans, ranging from 1,463 to 2,779 square feet with 3 to 4 bedrooms and up to 3 baths. It's a short drive into downtown Sacramento, and South Lake Tahoe and San Francisco are both only a two-hour drive away.

What Is in Your Mortgage Payment?

As you're searching for your ideal new home, it's important to understand a little more about how you'll finance your dream home. One area of confusion for many is the monthly mortgage payment.

Your monthly mortgage payment consists of more than just the loan amount plus interest. Taxes and insurance are other expenses that may be factored into the payment.

Most lenders require you to pay a calculated amount each month into an escrow account, out of which the lender will pay the property taxes and various insurance premiums, such as homeowner’s, flood, and windstorm, when due. This is helpful in terms of budgeting for these items because your lender is saving this money for your benefit and will pay those bills.

Another amount that may be added to your mortgage payment each month is private mortgage insurance (PMI). If you put down less than 20% of the purchase price of the home when it's purchased, the lender may require this insurance, which will cover the lender in the event of foreclosure. PMI is typically 1% of the loan amount and can usually be canceled and removed from the loan once your home value increases and you have at least 20% equity.

It's very important to consider these additional expenses when deciding how much to spend on your new home. Depending on where your new home is located, these additional amounts can represent a significant portion of your entire mortgage payment.

Featured New Home City: Charlotte, North Carolina

It's been said that, once you visit Charlotte, you'll want to live there. If you do, getting a lot of new home for your money is a cinch. Charlotte workers make slightly more than the national average, and home prices average just under $100 per square foot.

Located in the foothills of the Appalachian mountains and a three-hour drive from the Eastern shore, this largest city in North Carolina is one of the best places to live in America, according to CNN Money and Relocate-America.com, and is one of the most undervalued real estate markets in the U.S., according to Forbes. Charlotte is also a great pick in terms of recreation and appeal.

There are 198 new-home communities with around 2,000 available homes in a community of 631,000 people. With those numbers, you're sure to find a brand new home that meets your needs and expectations, like this large home in the Mooresville/Lake Norman area. You can get a hot deal on this Byers Creek home with the most sought-after floorplan for just $79 per square foot. The community also offers a pool, cabana, and playground, plus an on-site grocery store and local dining options.

Start your new home search in the Charlotte area on NewHomeSource.com, where you can find a list of homes for sale, builder information, and what you need to know about buying a new home in the New Home Guide.

How to Find the Right Builder for You

You've made the decision to buy a new home. The next and most important step in the process is choosing the right home builder for your project. Whether you're choosing a newly constructed home, building on your own lot, or having your home custom-built, the builder is a partner who should be easy to work with and share your goals.

The best way to start is by perusing the new home listings in the area where you wish to build or buy your new home. When you find homes for sale that appeal to you, get in touch with the builder of those properties to begin your interview process.

In order to determine if your potential builder will be a good match for you, request that the builder provide addresses for current projects, as well as those for homes completed several years ago. You'll want to visit these addresses to see how the job sites and completed projects look. If possible, try to speak with the owners of finished homes to find out how pleased they were with the builder’s work, how well the work has held up over time, and how the builder dealt with any home-warranty issues.

As you'll be dealing with your builder for a considerable length of time, it's critical that you find someone you can get along with. When the inevitable issues arise, you will want someone who will work with you to find the proper resolution and make the process of building a new home as enjoyable and rewarding as possible.

Be Aware of the Hazards of Buying a Used Home

Older homes possess a certain charm, but what's less charming are the various safety hazards that may be present, depending on when the home was built.

• Lead-based paint was commonly used prior to 1978 and isn’t a problem if left undisturbed; however, when the paint chips, peels, or is scraped off, particles might be released and subsequently ingested by children or pets, posing a significant health risk.
• Another common component of older building materials is asbestos, which can be present in insulation, vinyl floor coverings, siding, and some roofing materials. Insulation poses the biggest health threat, as the asbestos can become airborne when the insulation is touched. It should only be removed by a licensed professional. Unless damaged, it's best to leave asbestos siding alone.
• Radon, a naturally occurring gas, can enter older homes through foundation cracks or unsealed or improperly vented basement flooring. Foundations in older homes were typically not sealed, and this may lead to cracking and water seepage, leaving the home vulnerable to problems such as rot, mold, and termites.
• Prior to 1940, lead pipes were used for plumbing, and even the steel pipes and soldering on copper pipes used in later years sometimes contained lead. Whole house-water filtration systems can minimize the problem, as can replacement of the pipes, but these measures are costly.
• Outdated wiring can lead to safety concerns, as older construction may not have grounded outlets or the newer ground-fault interrupter outlets in areas where water is present, like kitchens and bathrooms.

The problems inherent in buying an older home are not insurmountable, but may involve significant time and expense. Any purchase of an older home must start with a thorough home inspection to determine if these hazards exist and an assessment of the cost of abating these hazards or upgrading to safer systems.

Why not avoid these problems altogether by buying a new home?

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Source:
http://www.mortgage-investments.com/Investors_in_Real_Estate/problems_with_older_homes.htm

From Needs to Wants: How to Get the House You Want Without Breaking the Bank

Shopping for a new home is fun and exciting, but if you don't start out with a clear idea of what you really need and only consider your wants or "wish list," buying a home can quickly turn into an exercise in frustration.

With so many choices on the market right now, it's very important to have a game plan so that you don't waste a lot of time or worse, end up with a home that's all wrong for your lifestyle. Start by making an actual list of the things you want your dream home to have, and then decide on the deal-breakers like location and number of bedrooms and bathrooms.

Consider your current and potential future lifestyle. For example, an otherwise perfect home quickly becomes outdated when you add to your family and really need that extra bedroom or bathroom. Take into account your commute and the location of your children's school (or future school) so that you don't end up living your life in the car instead of your new home.

Also, decide your budget carefully. If you find a home that meets your needs and is a great buy, you can afford to add some of your "wish list" items later on. The last thing you want to be is stuck in a house you can't afford and that doesn't meet your needs, even if it has many of the bells and whistles you wanted.

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Source:
http://www.lendingtree.com/smartborrower/buying-a-home/finding-a-home/home-needs-versus-wants/

Why People Buy Homes

 Do you know why people buy homes? The answer to this question is what my friend Stan Kates called the greatest secret in real estate sales. I remember it clearly. He was speaking at the International Builders Show. He looked left and right, lowered his voice almost to a whisper and said, "Do you know why people buy homes?" He paused, gave a 'shush' and continued, "People buy homes because they see other people buying homes."

Finally people are buying homes again. Nowhere near the levels of 2005 or 2006, but according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR) August 21, 2009 sales report, "Existing home sales ... rose 7.2 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate1 of 5.24 million units in July from a level of 4.89 million in June, and are 5.0 percent above the 4.99 million-unit pace in July 2008. The last time sales rose for four consecutive months was in June 2004, and the last time sales were higher than a year earlier was November 2005."

This represents more evidence that the market bottom has been reached. I'm not sure we have hit a price bottom, but with record affordability, near record low interest rates, and HUD reports showing momentum in new housing sales, this may be the best opportunity in decades to buy a home that will prove to be a good investment.

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Blair Kuhnen, VP/GM NewHomesource.com