New Home Source Blog

Spec Homes vs. Custom Homes: Which Is Right for You?

The answer to this question depends on what you want and need right now. A spec home is a home built by a home builder and then offered for sale.

Because a spec builder needs the home to appeal to a wide variety of buyers, the design, finishes, and appliances tend to be more homogeneous. A custom home, on the other hand, is built to your exact specifications, and you're assured of getting every detail built and designed the way you want.

Do you need to move into a home immediately, or do you have somewhere to live while your new home is custom-built? This will be a major factor in your decision. Fortunately, with the vast array of new homes currently available and ready to occupy, the perfect new home might just be waiting for you.

Another consideration is your budget. Typically, a custom home will cost more per square foot simply because there are more unique features, appliances, and design elements used than in spec homes, where the use of similar plans, products, and materials keeps costs predictable.

To get the best of both worlds, consider purchasing a semi-custom home, where you can select some of the features and make certain design decisions prior to the completion of the home. In this scenario, your new home will be ready for you much sooner than if you were to custom build.

For more information on if a custom home is right for you, read "How to Buy a Custom Home."

Image Courtesy of Jeff Watson Homes

Reduce Energy Costs by Upgrading to a New Home

Image Courtesy of Bob Smith

There's no doubt that the new homes being built today are much greener than their older counterparts. But is it enough of a savings to justify an upgrade from your older home to a new green home? Certainly it is when you consider not only the amount of money you'll save in energy costs each year, but also the potential tax savings and benefits of obtaining an Energy Efficient Mortgage (EEM) and an Energy Star Mortgage (ESM).

While you could retrofit an older home to try to duplicate the energy efficiency of a new green home, this requires considerable time, expense, and inconvenience. Why not purchase an Energy Star qualified green home from a home builder in your city and be assured your home meets the guidelines set by the EPA?

Your new home will be up to 30% more efficient than a standard home due to features such as effective insulation, high-performance windows, airtight construction, and a sealed "envelope" in your home, which improves indoor air quality and comfort. Energy-efficient heating and cooling equipment, products, and appliances also cost less to operate.

Your Energy Star qualified home may qualify for an EEM offered through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, and VA. Borrowers in Maine and Colorado can qualify for the Energy Star Mortgage pilot program in addition to an EEM. The ESM pilot program may soon be available to borrowers in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. These programs offer financial savings and incentives on your new home loan.

It is easy to find a qualified green home built by an Energy Star-partner new-home builder in your area.

Why Buy New Instead of Used?

Image courtesy of BHI Media

When you're looking to buy a home, you're probably also considering the real estate mantra, "location, location, location." If you also keep in mind "green, green, green" and decide to buy new, your bank account will thank you.

Save some green. Over the long run, buying a new home can save you a lot of money in repairs, updates, and renovations. The home warranty provided by the home builder will cover many problems for a specified amount of time and provide you with peace of mind.

Go green. New homes must meet stricter energy efficiency requirements. A new home can reduce energy consumption considerably if the builder uses green building practices. This means that you'll save money in utility costs and the Earth will save precious resources.

Green light to close. Quite often, the purchase of an older home breaks down before closing due to lender requirements and issues of insurability. Older homes may be difficult to insure, or premiums might be too expensive if you've selected a property in which major systems are nearing the end of their useful lives. Additionally, your lender may require costly repairs that neither you nor the seller is willing to pay for.

While there are many advantages to buying a new home over used, and many of the more tangible benefits are felt in your wallet.

From Advanced Home-Building Techniques to Efficient Appliances - How Much Can You Really Save with a New Home?

Image courtesy of barunpatro

Building a new home with the latest in green building techniques and equipping it with energy efficient appliances will translate directly to cost savings on utility bills. As a bonus, many of the advanced construction methods and products also make the living environment much more pleasant for the homeowner.

Heating and cooling systems that use radiant heat and geothermal energy can reduce energy costs up to 50%. Even central units are increasingly more efficient, provided that they're correctly sized for the home.

Once the inside of the home is at the proper temperature, there are many products that can help maintain constant temperatures, thereby reducing the need for heating and cooling. Caulking, sealing, and foaming gaps and cracks between the inside and outside is key, as is the installation of barriers to reflect heat in the roof system or attic. Insulating the home and creating a seal (or envelope) will also reduce energy costs.

Buying smart appliances is another way to directly impact a homeowner’s bottom line each month. Energy Star-qualified appliances, which are marked with a blue seal, have been proven to perform their tasks better than competitors with lower energy requirements and sometimes even qualify for rebates and tax credits. And don’t forget low-flow faucets and toilets, which will reduce water consumption.

Outside the home, greener landscaping choices including strategic shade tree plantings, less lawn area, and the use of greywater from the home can substantially reduce the amount of water consumed and conserve energy.

The bottom line with buying a home that was built with environmentally friendly practices is this: you save money while helping save the planet.

Ways That Builders Are Going Green

Image Courtesy of Flavio Takemoto

Far from being a fad at this point, green building practices are here to stay and are now being incorporated into codes and regulations. The NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) estimates that half of its members are utilizing green building practices in their businesses. New home builders can become certified through the NAHB's National Green Building Program.

Water conservation, greater energy efficiency, use of sustainable or recycled materials and products, and improved indoor air quality are becoming more and more standard for new home building due to the increasing demand from consumers for green homes.

From selecting and preparing the new home site to the finishes used in the home, home builders are using cutting-edge products and environmentally conscious building practices in order to save their customers money on utility bills and to reduce the impact on the environment. New products and building processes can create airtight homes that use much less energy while simultaneously improving the air quality for the home’s occupants.

The various ways builders are going green are being driven by the wishes of consumers. This trend will continue to grow as more homeowners and home builders realize that saving money and saving the Earth go hand in hand.

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.

New Home Red Tape Goes Green

As energy costs rise, California and various localities throughout the state are actively encouraging energy efficient construction through legislation. If you’re building a new green home, these new rules might save you some green as well.

Last year, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Monterey and other counties enacted new green building policies. These guidelines and others around the state either mandate increased energy efficiency or offer incentives for builders to go green. Studies prove that green buildings also benefit their new owners: New green homes not only save home owners money in energy costs, but have higher resale values, rental rates, and occupancy rates than their conventional counterparts.

Many new regulations utilize the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards. These guidelines not only promote energy efficient construction practices, but also take into account factors such as proximity to public transportation, use of renewable energy, and the environmental impact of construction materials.

In localities mandating green building, only homes built after the enactment of green-building legislation are guaranteed to have these cost-saving features. In these tough economic times, going green with your new home is quickly becoming a win-win scenario.

If you have any questions regarding the impact of this legislation on you and your new home, please contact your builder or a real estate attorney in your city.

Powered by the Sun

Using the sun’s energy for power could soon become commonplace for new homeowners in Hawaii. According to a recent article in the Honolulu Advertiser, the island is on its way to becoming the first state in the U.S. to require that all new single-family homes come equipped with energy-saving solar water heaters beginning in 2010.

With the price of oil at more than $100/barrel, using the sun as a power source is also a powerful financial alternative: estimates report that electricity costs for an average new home could be cut by up to 35 percent, simply by using a solar water heater. Hawaii currently offers a solar energy tax credit for homes built before 2010; there's also a federal tax credit available.

In related news, a Roper survey found that nearly 90 percent of Americans think that solar electricity should be an option for all new home construction, with three-fourths of respondents saying that solar power is “more important than ever.”

Green Living is Easy in a New Home

New homes today are greener than ever - and that’s a big plus for homeowners.

Today’s new homes are considerably more energy-efficient than homes built even five years ago, largely because of higher-quality, higher-tech materials and good building science.

As a result, new homes are better at holding in hot and cool air in winter and summer, helping us save money all year long. Many builders are also offering low- or no-VOC (volatile organic compounds) options for paints, as well as cabinetry made without formaldehyde, helping us breathe easier and contributing to increased indoor air quality.

Starting a painting project soon? The National Association of Home Builders recommends choosing paints that have been independently certified as low- or zero-VOC. For example, Benjamin Moore’s EcoSpec line is certified by Green Seal (www.greenseal.org) and the Greenguard Environmental Institute (www.greenguard.org), nonprofits that test, certify and promote low-emitting interior products.