3 Fatal Mistakes When Buying A New Home

Buying a new home is truly an exciting venture and if its family home then its even more exciting. A home is so much more than just a roof over your head. It reflects your life, your lifestyle and gives a family that sense of belonging and feeling safe inside the four walls. Apart from that, any home is a significant investment and its probably the biggest investment you will ever make. For that very reason its important that you make the investment wisely.

So many people make silly mistakes when buying a new home. Some mistakes can be costly financially while some mistakes can cost you in terms of space and comfort. Lets quickly look at 3 very common mistakes.

1. Impulse Buying
Buying a pair of shoes on impulse is probably okay. Buying a new home on impulse definitely ain't. So many people get swept up by their excitement when they first see a home they really like and end up buying it - on impulse. You need to set your emotions aside when making any investment and look at it from a practical and logical perspective.

2. Location
No matter what property you buy, location is critically important. No matter how great the property, you need to look at the broader context to truly access its value. Proximity to schools, public transport and amenities are very important aspects that can affect the resale value of the property.

3. Price
No matter what you are buying there is one important thing that is always negotiable and that is the price. Sellers want to get as much as possible while buyers want to save as much as possible. Its important that you always get an accurate evaluation of the value of the property in the current market and never pay more than that.

Green is More Than a Trend, It's a Standard in Home Building

With help from the new first-time home buyer tax credit and improving rates on home mortgages, the long downswing in production activity is slowly but surely putting us back on track to a healthy housing market."- Sandy Dunn, former president of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

The road back to a healthy housing market must include green and sustainable design and building techniques. Old ways of building, without concern for the environment and energy consumption will be replaced with careful consideration of each site environment and ways to incorporate renewable energy. Every positive action counts.

From the vantage point of a home builder, any improvement to any portion of the building process helps the environment. An incredible 40% of energy consumption in the United States is attributed to residential buildings, and of that, 32% is consumed in heating and cooling.

Homeowners desiring to make the largest effect for the smallest effort & investment will build a better insulated, energy efficient home with renewable heating and cooling systems, utilizing natural day-lighting and incorporating a renewable energy system such as solar to produce hot water and/or electricity or geothermal system, which uses stable ground or water temperatures near the earth's surface to provide heating, air conditioning, and in most cases, hot water.

Small steps in aggregate will have an enormous impact on our global environment - and give you a comfortable, energy efficient home with a great return on your investment.

Landon Homes is a locally owned and staffed new home construction company in Northeast Florida that is committed to a personal, hands-on approach to building homes. Our goal is to not only build an exceptional home, but also deliver an memorable homebuilding experience for our customers. Communication, honesty, integrity, a commitment to doing it right, and creating a relationship that extends beyond the home sale and closing are our top priorities when helping homeowners discover their dream home. Once in their new home, homeowners can rest assured that we will stand behind our product long after the sale. Give us a call today (904) 567-3430 and let's get started!

8 Little Things Not to Forget When Building a New Home

Building your own custom home can be exciting yet nerve racking experience. Paying attention to detail throughout the new construction home process will help streamline the process and increase your ultimate satisfaction with the home. Here are eight little things not to forget when working with a Premier Home Builder on the construction of your new home.

Ample High Performance Lighting - Be sure to install ample high output energy efficient lighting in high use areas. This rule absolutely applies to kitchens and bathrooms. If installing recessed lighting, be sure to several lights through out the kitchen or bathroom to avoid shadows. Chandeliers, track lighting, fluorescent lights or under cabinet light will all work fine. Just be sure to install plenty of them in high use areas.


Insulate Your Garage - Most builders only install insulation within interior walls of the home that face the outside of the house. Generally, builders do not insulate the exterior walls of your garage. Forget this tip and your garage will be hotter in the summer and colder in the winter. Have your builder insulate the exterior facing walls of your garage before the drywall is installed. Better yet, do it yourself to save some money.


Electrical Outlets Under Eaves - If you like to install lights during the holiday season on your roof line, be sure to install electrical outlets under the eaves to simplify installing the lights. Also be sure to install a switch to turn the lights on or off from inside your home near the front entrance. When you are up on that ladder on a blustery winter day, you will be thankful you can just plug the lights in with minimal extension cords and flip the lights on or off with a switch from inside your home. Speaking of holiday lights, install an outlet near the mantel of your fireplace too.


Double Coaxial Connections in Wall Jacks - Given the popularity of high definition televisions and digital video recorders, be sure to run two coaxial cables into each wall jack where you may want a TIVO or DVR unit. This will allow you to record one show and watch another simultaneously. Forget and you will need to drop that second coaxial line later which can be very tricky after drywall is installed.

Gas Line In Utility Room - Even if you plan to use an electric clothes dryer, it may be prudent to install a gas line into your utility room to allow for a gas clothes dryer in the future. Although gas prices are on the rise, if you have a large family and do many loads of laundry each week it may be cheaper in the long run to use gas. If you do not add a gas line in the utility room, an electric clothes dryer will be your only option.

Seal Your Garage Floor - Consider sealing your garage floor before moving into the home. Concrete sealer is available in do-it-yourself kits that will protects your garage floor from deterioration caused by road salts and prevent stains due to oil and other fluids. It also adds to the aesthetics of the garage and may make your home more marketable when you sell in the future. You might also consider a drain in the floor of your garage.

Ample Height for Shower Heads - This may seem like a no brainer. However, if you forget to raise your shower head to a comfortable height during construction, you will have to squat or bend over while you should be relaxing under a nice warm shower.


Automatic Pool Water Filler - When installing a pool or spa, remember to hook the pool fill line into your sprinkling system so you can automate adding water to your pool. This is especially convenient in the south where water evaporation rates are high in the summer. This will allow you to set one zone of your sprinkling system to add water to your pool. You then simply tell it to run 10 or 15 minutes once a week.

The character of your home will often shine through in the details. Paying attention to the details, such as those noted above, will help increase your satisfaction with your new home and should help simplify your lifestyle.

Landon Homes is a locally owned and staffed new home construction company in Northeast Florida that is committed to a personal, hands-on approach to building homes. Our goal is to not only build an exceptional home, but also deliver an memorable homebuilding experience for our customers. Communication, honesty, integrity, a commitment to doing it right, and creating a relationship that extends beyond the home sale and closing are our top priorities when helping homeowners discover their dream home. Once in their new home, homeowners can rest assured that we will stand behind our product long after the sale. Give us a call today (904) 567-3430 and let's get started!