New Home Communities | Finding a Pet-Friendly Home

New Home Communities | If you have cat or dog, and you’re buying a home, your cohabitant can’t tell you what he or she wants. But you should be on the lookout for features that your feline or canine will appreciate – and be sure to tell your real estate agent that your pet is a part of the family. Here are some things to consider when searching for the perfect home for you and your furry friend.

The Neighborhood

If you have a dog, bring it to any home before you make an offer, so you can take a walk through the neighborhood, ideally at the time of day you typically would walk your dog. Keep an eye out for any aggressive dogs nearby who may cause trouble. You don’t want to live next door to a bully!

If you live near a main strip of stores and restaurants, walk there, too, and see whether there are any water bowls in front of the stores, and if any of those places allow dogs inside. Find the nearest vet, pet store, groomer and any other pet service you may need.

Home Builder Jacksonville | How to Store Your Belongings? Climate Control vs. Garage

Home Builder Jacksonville | Your garage or shed might be the most convenient place to stash any number of your belongings, but is it the best place?

In some cases, your stuff will be perfectly safe and sound in your garage or shed. In other cases, however, climate-controlled storage might be the better choice. In fact, you could risk ruining certain items if you fail to put them in a climate-controlled environment.

First off, let’s cover what climate-controlled storage is. Essentially, this type of storage controls temperature and humidity levels. For humidity, that means a level around 55 percent. For temperature, the range is roughly 55 to 85 degrees.

Home Building Trends | Multigenerational Homes Are Coming Back

Home Building Trends | The concept of multiple generations living in the same house is nothing new.

Multigenerational households declined in popularity after World War II, but they’re on the rise again in a big way.

According to the Pew Research Center, approximately 51 million Americans (or 16.7 percent of the population) live in a house with at least two adult generations, or a grandparent and at least one other generation. Pew also reported a 10.5 percent increase in multigenerational households from 2007 to 2009.

New House Builder | Didn't Qualify for a Home Loan? What Next?

Take these steps to pursue your path to mortgage approval.

New House Builder | You finally found it — the home of your dreams. But now you feel it slipping away because your mortgage loan application was not approved.It’s understandable that you are disappointed and wondering what to do next. 

Buying a home is an emotional process — being denied one can be more so. You are not alone. Since the 2008 housing crash, lenders have become more cautious, lending standards are more stringent and now even those with a high credit score are not guaranteed approval.

With a recent home loan rejection, you might think your dream of owning a home is gone. Not so, says Greg Cook “In our office, we never say ‘no,’ we say ‘not yet.’ I’ve had plenty of clients who have turned a denial into an approval.”

Custom Homes | 8 Creative Lighting Ideas

Custom Homes | For your guests to get maximum enjoyment, check that you have comfortable seating, a curtain or screen to keep out bugs and reliable lighting. Every outdoor activity depends on your yard being well-lit. If you want to pep up your space with creative and unique DIY outdoor lighting, check out these eight ideas!

1. Folded Paper Lanterns

How to Make Star Lanterns via Debbie @Me and My DIY

Perfect for hanging from branches or arranging along your porch banister, these whimsical little lanterns are an inexpensive and fun way of adding some light to your night.

Moving Tips | Working with a Moving Company

Moving Tips | Let’s face it: Moving can be as painful as doing your taxes or getting a tooth pulled. If you’ve decided to skip the hassle and hire someone to do it for you, here are a few important things to keep in mind when working with a moving company.

1. Shop around.

Don’t settle for the first bid you get from a moving company. It’s recommended that you get written bids from at least three moving companies whose representatives have visited your home. Ask whether they’re running any specials. If you favor one company over another but the preferred mover’s bid is higher, try to negotiate a lower price.

Home Builder Jacksonville | The Difference Between Home Insurance and Renters Insurance

Home Builder Jacksonville | Whether you are a homeowner or a renter, insurance is equally important. After all, no matter where you live, you still want to protect yourself, your stuff and your financial well-being. In that way, home and renters insurance are very similar.

Both policies can be required by an outside party: Mortgage lenders generally demand that you have homeowners insurance, and more landlords prefer – if not mandate – that you have renters coverage. However, the two types of policies have a range of differences.

On the surface, it’s easy to tell the main disparity among home and renters insurance. One policy is meant for homeowners while the other is meant for renters. However, there are many other distinctions between the two insurance types, ranging from coverage to cost.

Home Building Trends | Lawn-less Gardening

Home Building Trends | You don’t have to live in a vast and verdant suburban landscape to have plants. If you live in a condo, apartment or urban area where greenery is sparse, you can still have an abundance of flowers and shrubs. Create your own garden to tend to, so you don’t miss out on the experience. Here are some ideas for gardening in small spaces that don’t require a lawn or yard:

1. Raised Garden Bed

If you have only a balcony or small patio space to work with, think about a small raised garden bed or stacked garden bed for plants. You can buy these at local home improvement stores and put them in various configurations to fit your space. Then you can plant almost any type of shrub or flower that you want.

New House Builder | Home Prices Rise, While Mortgage Debt Falls...What Gives?

New House Builder | Last week, we got even more evidence that the mortgage system is seriously out of whack. This week, the Fed speaks and we get several reads on the housing market. The Census Bureau reports on new construction and the National Association of Realtors releases existing homes data. Across the pond, architects have designed an incinerator that blows smoke rings. Seriously. Read on.

Prices are up, mortgage borrowing is down. Huh?

Mortgage borrowers are doing a better job making their payments, and it’s no wonder. Only people with the best credit histories are getting loans.

Custom Homes | 12 Home Staging Tips

Custom Homes | One of the most common questions I get from clients who are planning to sell their home is how much work they should put into making the home look perfect. As a general rule of thumb, aside from renovating a severely outdated kitchen or bathroom, any home improvement that doesn’t add square footage isn’t worth it.

That said, I do recommend staging a home so that it makes a positive first impression when prospective buyers tour it. Here are 12 tried-and-true home staging tips that won’t cost a lot but will make a big difference!

1. Less is more.

Rent storage to help de-clutter. Remove enough stuff so that closets and storage spaces are half empty.

Home Builder Jacksonville | How Homes Have Changed Since The '50s

Home Builder Jacksonville | While mid-century modern style may be all the rage today, domestic floorplans have changed considerably over the past 50 years. The biggest difference has been the steady increase in the size of homes. We now have larger rooms, and more bathrooms, bedrooms, and closet space. We’ve also opened up our shared rooms by tearing down the walls and bringing in more outside light.

Here’s a look at how each room in the house has evolved.

The kitchen

Today’s large kitchen with its island and central place in the home is a relic of the 1950s, when homeowners wanted to show off novel appliances like dishwashers and refrigerators.

The idea of opening the kitchen to other rooms of the house began in the 1970s. Architects began eliminating kitchen walls to create a seamless transition into this shared and frequently used space. They also brought more light into the kitchen by installing skylights and large windows that expose this once closed-off room.

Home Building Trends | The New American Home

Home Building Trends | Indoor plumbing. Electric lights. We take these things for granted today, but there was a time when such basic conveniences were novel and sought after. Of course, with the forward gallop of technological advancement, homes have become only more comfortable and accommodating of our day-to-day wants and needs. And far from static, our cultural priorities and lifestyle preferences have evolved, even compared with what they were just 10 or 15 years ago. For example, increasing numbers of homeowners are eschewing formality and embracing practicality. With continual, sometimes dramatic, change at play, there’s no such thing as a fixed ideal. But survey data and anecdotal evidence certainly suggest that in the 21st-century real estate market, some features are more highly prized than others.

Energy-Efficient Appliances

When the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) recently surveyed prospective and recent home buyers, the organization found that 9 out of 10 people prioritize energy efficiency—if not for its role in mitigating the current climate crisis, then for its ability to minimize monthly household bills. A staggering 94 percent of the survey respondents said they want ENERGY STAR-rated appliances, with over a third rating them as absolutely essential.

New House Builder | 7 Home Inspection Nightmares

Closing on a home is exciting, but sometimes you encounter “nightmares” that can break the deal. If you’re on the seller’s end, inspection surprises can force you to spend thousands of unexpected dollars to get your home back on the market. If you’re on the buyer’s end, inspection surprises may preclude you from signing off on the home of your dreams. Here are some commonly encountered home inspection nightmares, as well as some advice on how to handle them:

1. Foundation Issues

If a home inspector finds a problem with the home’s foundation — or if the grading is sloped the wrong way — it will present a hassle for the seller and the buyer alike. Damp or wet crawlspaces may result from water seeping toward the foundation, or windows and doors may show uneven gaps — a sure sign that grading issues are causing the foundation to fall out of alignment. Sloping floors and cracked concrete are additional indications that a home’s foundation is in need of repair. Since the foundation is responsible for supporting the entire home, fixing it will cost a pretty penny; buyers may shy away from a home with foundation issues.

Moving Tips | Make Your Next Move a Green Move

Moving Tips | You picked out your new place. You’ve arranged for the movers. You’re excited, you’re pumped, and you’re ready.

But are you green?

The environment might not be top of mind when you’re in the middle of a move, but there are plenty of ways to be kind to Mother Nature without going out of your way or slowing down the process.

The first and most obvious path for green move is to have less actual mass to haul. There is no better time than before a move to go through your clothes, electronics, small appliances and linens, etc., to get rid of the things you know in your heart of hearts you won’t be using.

Unique Products for Custom Homes

Custom Homes | Dwell on Design is one part turbo-powered home show, one part industry conference and one part Hollywood extravaganza with funky sets and design celebrities.

This energetic 11-year-old event gets bigger every year and has expanded to New York, as well as continuing in its Los Angeles flagship location, Dwell on Design, Los Angeles (DODLA).

Produced by Dwell Magazine, DODLA offers a unique blend of funky jewelry, fabulous furnishings, upscale appliances and offbeat accessories. These are some of the best new products for those building or living in a new home.

Home Builder Jacksonville | Great Ideas for Bonus Rooms

Flex rooms. Bonus rooms. Double-duty rooms. Multipurpose rooms.

Home Builder Jacksonville | Whatever they’re called, these new-home spaces, used for different or multiple needs, are very popular with today’s homebuyers.

A flex room might be defined as “several options within the same square footage,” explains Bridjette Shelfo.

“The consumer typically has three or four options for that flex space, whether they want it to be garage space, a game room or another guest suite with a bathroom,” she says. “Sometimes it shifts a few feet in one direction or another, but it is in the same general area and takes up the same general space.”

New House Builder | What's In and Out in Home Design?

Warm, welcoming and comfortable. These words describe the ideal place to get away at the end of the day. The kind of place you want to spend relaxing weekends with family and friends. In a word, your home.

New House Builder | Many homeowners have moved beyond the desire for a private refuge and are instead focusing on creating inviting entertainment areas — a place where family and friends are always welcome.

"The home isn't just for the person who lives there anymore," said Linda Rossi. "It's where people create memories and share their lives with family and friends. The emphasis is now on making a home feel inviting and comfortable."

"When our buyers begin selecting flooring, designing their kitchens and picking options, trends become obvious," Rossi said. "That combined with the expertise of our model home decorators keeps us up on what's in and what's out."

So what are home buyers looking for?

Home Building Trends | The New American Home (Pt. 2)

Green, Greener, Greenest

Home Building Trends | When it comes to energy efficiency, the TNAH has always been leading edge and this year’s home takes green beyond accepted benchmarks to the next level. “We’ve surpassed the standards of LEED Platinum and NAHB’s Emerald,” says Bernard. With a HERS score of minus-10, this home is expected to use 104-percent less energy than a standard new home. 

Such a high level of efficiency is achieved with a combination of technologies, including the use of open cell and closed cell foam insulation that seals the exterior and reflects UV rays, keeping the roof cooler, extensive solar panels, hydronic air handlers and low-maintenance building materials. For example, the exterior looks like wood, but it is actually a high-performance stucco.

Home Building Trends | The New American Home (Pt. 1)

Home Building Trends | “Pre-engineered custom” might not be a familiar phrase, but there’s a good chance that it will become one of residential construction’s buzzwords if the official show home of the International Builders’ Show slated to open in mid-January in Las Vegas is any indication.

Rather than creating a unique one-of-a-kind show home, the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) opted for a different approach this year, making The New American Home (TNAH) a production home that feels individualized. Think of it as production meets custom.

Custom Homes | All About Customized Cabinets

Cabinets are increasingly becoming more simple, yet more high-tech.

Custom Homes | While we’ve all had to adjust in the last few years thanks to the economy, the good news is that the kitchen is still holding its primary importance within the home.

In fact, consumers have been willing to take down walls, combine rooms or steal space from the dining room or home office to make their kitchen a great space for family get-togethers and, often, for multiple work stations that include informal office spaces and various food prep areas.

Cabinetry remains a major functional and architectural consideration in kitchen design. Moreover, the use of cabinetry beyond the kitchen is growing, including installations as entertainment centers, butler pantries, laundry rooms, home offices, bars and even outdoor entertainment or kitchen areas. Another growing cabinet market is in master bath suites. More than just a bath vanity, these can include whole wardrobe storage systems.