Real Estate Information Center

Getting out from under the liability monster. Insurance costs are crazy. Many builders are finding new ways to limit their exposure while still performing their craft and helping people build, remodel and create the home of their dreams.

It’s a litigious time and alternative approaches make sense. Especially for builders who do not have a full slate of clients-in-waiting with more work than they can handle.

What about you? Are you looking to build a business with lower liability and less insurance? Perhaps you want to continue your career in building but put in less time and reduce your personal responsibility.

Continue reading ‘Custom Home Contractors – Beating the Liability Woes’ »

Three teenagers, one husband, one dog, one cat and myself living in close quarters, crammed into an old two bedroom house, where we have been for just over 12 months. Luckily we all get along. We queue patiently outside that one old bathroom. There have been really fun times but now we need some space. We have really had enough. It’s time to knock down and rebuild. Soon.

We are not the only family in this predicament. In this economic climate of uncertainty, how can we make this new house happen fast and negate the financial risk? We followed these very important steps, which will be of use to you:

1. Firstly, work out the ‘worst case senario’ before you make your plans to build e.g. say that you can’t meet the banks repayments and need to sell the house on completion. Never allow the banks to take the power over your financial decisions. So, consider what you paid for the block of ground, or in our case, the old house. Work out what a well designed and constructed new home on that block would sell for in the current market and try to predict what the market will be doing in 12 months time (at building completion). You need the comfort of this planned exit strategy before you begin.

Continue reading ‘Building a New House With the Perfect Home Business’ »

New trends in home construction have resulted in cost efficient, smaller home designs. It has, however, also created a need for space that is being manifested in the latest renovation craze – expansion of the backyard deck.

According to Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies, the average homeowner has cutback on spending for renovations (after six years of increases), but the average cost of a deck renovation has still risen 40% between 2004 and 2007 to almost $10,350. A typical deck on an above average home has increased to 700 square feet (larger than most indoor great rooms).

Decks make the perfect add-on for the whole family. Kids can play on them, they are great for entertaining and they offer an excellent resale return for your money.When done properly, a deck renovation should appear as an outdoor living space. If you’re seated, indoors and looking out, your deck should appear as an additional room, without walls.

Continue reading ‘Bringing the Indoors Out’ »

Let me get right to the point. Coach. That’s it. Coach people who want to remodel their home. Coach people who want to build a home. Let them be the builder and you be their advisor.

Just because you may be a licensed General Contractor doesn’t mean that you have to take over the project, assume all the liability, and involve all your time. That’s the old traditional way that isn’t as fruitful anymore unless you’ve built a big, thriving business that now has its own locomotion and will carry you through changing trends and economic slowdowns. Coaching is finding its place.

How Home Building Coaches Earn More

Aside from providing a more rewarding business and lifestyle, coaching can increase your income. Builders, trades-persons, and other home building industry professionals are proving that a good coaching business provides steadier and higher profit income.

Continue reading ‘Home Builders – Lower Your Liability to Increase Your Earnings’ »

Oh, and I want this, and I want that … oh, and this too! Whoa, wait a sec … are you trying to fit everything you had in your big home into your small home plan?

Small home living is gaining steam in our economy and with the push of green building. Saving money and saving the earth is in. Small homes can help. But with small homes your thinking has to change. It’s a big mistake to try to keep everything you had in the bigger home and just shrink everything down.

The House That Won’t Sell

There’s a house on the market in our neighborhood that just sits there. No one seems to want to touch it. A walk through almost gives you the willies. It’s all cut up. There’s no flow or openness to it and you never seem to know where you are. It’s like the Winchester Mystery House … kind of fascinating but totally unlivable. It’s a maze.

Continue reading ‘Small Home Designs – Avoid the Amazing Maze in Your Small Home Floor Plan’ »

For many, the kitchen is a social place – the spot where kids and spouse come to visit with the cook, away from the distractions of TV, games, etc. In fact, in many homes, the kitchen is the social center, where even visits with friends occur around the kitchen table.

If that describes your family, then plan a space for “non-cooks” to sit, out of the way, so visiting can take place with out disrupting the cooking. A breakfast bar, or a table tucked into a corner can become a place of comfort, where some of the most important events of life are discussed. It’s also a great place for kids to sit when they need a bit of parental help with homework.

In addition, if someone in your family is a serious cook, the design and placement of counter tops, refrigerator, range, and sink become paramount. Many of the new house plans I’ve seen ignore the old “triangle” rule and stick the refrigerator out of the way, around behind the breakfast bar or a center island. It might look nice, but it will become a serious annoyance very quickly.

Continue reading ‘Building a Home – Plan Your Kitchen to Reflect Your Lifestyle’ »

Before you choose a house plan, take some time to sit down with the people you live with, and consider the space you occupy right now. When you find out how each of you feels about your present home, you’ll make better choices when planning your new home.

What you learn may be things you’ve heard many times before, but haven’t thought about. And, because it has an impact on planning your next home, you may learn something new. So ask these questions of each person who will occupy your new home:

* What do you love and appreciate most about our current home?
* What is the most convenient feature of your current home?
* Is there something you wish this home had that it doesn’t have?
* Is there some feature that really annoys you?
* Is there some feature that’s a small but constant irritation?

You may learn that your daughter loves and appreciates her south-facing window or that your son loves the little nook under the stairway. And you may learn that the cook absolutely hates those can lights in the kitchen ceiling that shine in the wrong spot.

Continue reading ‘Building a Home – What to Do Before Choosing a House Plan’ »

Where will you build? If a rural area has your heart, and if you’re at all addicted to television or the internet, you need to plan ahead.

Here in the woods, where I live, there is no such thing as cable. There is also no such thing as fiber optic cable for the telephone.

The location is perfect – we have privacy, mountain and water views, and plenty of wildlife to observe. I love it and wouldn’t consider living anywhere else.

But… the phone lines are 30+ years old. Well, most of them are that old. There is that 1,200 foot section of new line that’s currently hanging on a fence, except for where it’s laying on top of the ground.

When I asked the repairman about the possibility of getting fiber optic he laughed out loud. He told me I’d be darned lucky to get a new copper line. With a low population density, the phone company isn’t at all concerned about upgrading service to our neighborhood.

Continue reading ‘Building a Home in a Rural Area – Add This to Your Planning’ »

Dreams inspire us. But dreams can also depress us. Many today are abandoning their dreams because the economy is just too depressing when measure against our dreams. Have you abandoned your home building dreams?

Over the years of counseling with hundreds of individuals and families, I’ve run across scores of emotions. Building a home or doing a major remodel is a very personal and often emotional time. It’s a time when people are finally giving expression to long held dreams and visions. It’s a time to fight for what they want and not back down. It can be intense at times. Many decide it’s too tough and let the dream remain just a dream.

Has Your HomeBuilding Dream Been Falsely Crushed?

At the time of this writing, the economy is the number one reason people cite for losing the passion behind their desire to build or remodel. And for some, it could be a good reason. But many others are just reacting to the news of the day and letting that throw them off the path.

Continue reading ‘Home Building Dream – Who Stole the Power Behind Your Dream?’ »

Thirty cents on the dollar? Yes, maybe. A couple of months back a former client of mine called. He wanted to know if I had a suggestion for a lender to finance a piece of land because he wants to build again.

Alex is a fireman and just three years ago he completed his two and a half story home overlooking the city. Although not planning to build right away, Alex was quite interested in what appears to be good deals on land. I was able to find him a lender and within a couple more weeks he had made a deal on a nice view lot in another part of town. He was very happy about purchasing a lot in an upscale neighborhood for about one third of the price it sold for just a couple years back.

Buying Your Dream Home-Building Parcel

If you’re thinking about building, would now be the time to buy that lot? Picking a market bottom is tricky business. One third the price? Well, first off, that opportunity isn’t going to be there for everyone. But, would half the price be good? Would a fifty percent reduction be good? Perhaps these would be good deals but only time will tell. And it pays to remember that the prices of two and three years ago were often inflated prices, not real values.

Continue reading ‘Home Building Tips – Land – Is It Time To Bargain Hunt?’ »