Myths About Custom Homes

 A custom home is a home that is built to the specifications of the buyer. Basically, the buyer of the home will get to choose every detail when it comes to their new home. Many home buyers shy away from building a custom home due to several myths.

The biggest myth is that a custom home is too expensive. Although this can be true, there are tons of ways to save when building a custom home. You do not need to have a massive budget for a custom build. Another big issue is that many home buyers feel it takes too long to build a new home. Many custom homes are actually built faster than mass-produced homes.

When it comes to custom builders, there are plenty out there and they are easy to find. The best way is through recommendations and searching online. You will want to be sure to ask the builder you have chosen about their experience, process and pricing.

Remember, working with a builder who understands what you want and knows your budget is the key. A good builder will help you find ways to save money through the homebuilding process.

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Homeownership is The Way To Go

Rent is rising fast and many are turning back to owning vs. renting. According to the Unites States Census Bureau, in 2016 the decline in homeownership suddenly changed and started to rise. The Housing Vacancies and Homeownership survey reflects that homeownership rates rose from 63% in 2016 to 64.6% in 2018. Here are some of the reasons why this reversal has come to fruition.

Millennials had enough with living with mom and dad. In 2017, 22% of adults between the ages of 25 to 34 were living with their parents compared to the 11.6 % of adults between the ages of 25 to 34 that were living with their parents in 2005. This increase was due to the housing crisis, slow earnings

growth, soft labor market and steep student loan debts. As of 2016, Millennials started to be in the position to financially own a home. The homeownership rate for those under 45 began to recover very quickly. This is an important statistic for the housing market because Millennials (those born after 1981) will outnumber baby boomers in the near future.

“Millennials have been on a buying spree the last few years,” Zillow Research economist Aaron Terrazas said.

The groundwork for the turning point hit in 2015 when rental rates rose nationally more than 6% from the previous year. This marked one of the rare times that rent rose faster than home prices.

“Rent appreciation was so high during that period that it essentially put fire under people’s feet to get up and buy,” Terrazas said. “People who may have been sitting on the fence would be incentivized to jump into homeownership,” according to Terrazas.

Rising house prices also led to a quick reaction as Milleanials feared they would be priced out of the market. Terrazas commented that, “driven to homeownership by fears that with homes appreciating so quickly that they would be locked out of buying a home in their desired area.”
Another fear was that interest rates could go up so those who wanted to own a home needed to lock in immediately.

“Maybe people thought ‘interest rates could go up, I should lock in now,’ ” Urban institute housing expert Laurie Goodman said.

Those that were affected by foreclosures during the 2008 recession are ready to buy again. Those that went into foreclosure are now able to obtain a mortgage( it takes seven years for your credit to be cleared of a foreclosure). Buyers who were burned during the housing bubble are no longer gun shy, they are beginning to reenter the housing market.

Overall the unemployment rate is in better shape than it was a decade ago and there are more people out there ready to invest their money.

“When there’s very low unemployment, when there’s been slow but steady wage growth, that tends to make households confident in their ability to make what will probably be their largest investment of their life,” said Ralph McLaughlin an economist at CoreLogic.


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Decisions to Make When Installing a Fence

Sometimes you like the idea of having a yard with no boundaries, where you can see everything from your front or back porch with nothing obstructing your view.  Or, if you have pets who also like freedom or maybe neighbors you’d rather not have seeing you, you might want to install a fence in your front yard or backyard.  Believe it or not, getting a fence installed can take quite a bit of work on your part when it comes to selection of material, parameter of the fence, and finding the right fence contractor.

Here are some tips that will help you get started on the process. The look of your fence and its requirements are totally up to you!

Fence Purpose
What is the purpose of your fence? Do you want more privace and need a wood-slatted or vinyl privacy fence? Do you have pets that are just as smart as you are and need a secure fence to keep them from “visiting” everyone else in the neighborhood?  Do you need boundaries for your neighbors where they can see you and you can see them, but they can’t just walk on over?  Whatever type of fence you need, you need to begin there when making the next decision steps of your process.

Materials & Aesthetics
The next thing you will need to decide is how you want your fence to look.  There are several decorative fence styles that are popular in St. Tammany Parish. There is the “farm fence” which is a

1/2 to 2/3 tall fence with horizontal poles or boards, typically painted white.  There is the popluar picket fence which is seen around many homes in Madisonville and Mandeville.  There is the horse fence with is like the “farm fence” but is actually used as a fence to keep horses or cattle in.  This fence typically is taller with more horizontal rails.  It is also popular in north Covington and Folsom.  There is the 6′ or 8′ privacy fence which completely covers the area to make it…private.  You can also upscale your fence with a mixutre of materials including stone columns and wood slats or brick columns and wrought iron pickets.  Whatever type of fence you choose, be sure to be budget conscious and buy what you can afford.

Fencing Cost & Care
Which brings us to the next point – cost. Not only do you need to consider the cost of the materials but also the cost of installation. In Louisiana especially, you need to consider the elements when installing your fence because the weather here can wreak havoc on your materials.  Vinyl, aluminum, brick, & wrought iron will definitely last longer than wood (even treated wood) any day.  Going with a cheaper product, such as landscape timbers, may save you money in the short term, but you will definitely be replacing that fence in the near future.

Map Your Fence
If you are located in a neighborhood, you will want to be very clear where your property lines are located so as not to intrude on your neighbor’s property. That is a definite way to keep the peace between you and your neighbor.  You will also want to walk the proposed fence line with your installer to be sure that he or she is very clear as to where the fence needs to be installed.

Homeowners Association
Some homeowners associations have very strict rules as to where a fence can be constructed and even what materials may be used.  Be sure to check with them before beginning your project to make sure your fence proposal falls into their guidelines.  In some areas, you may have to get a letter from your HOA to get a permit from the city or parish before you begin.

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Important Home Buying Information

In case you haven’t been “in the market” to buy a home in a very long time, now its as easy as a touch of your finger to begin the search for the perfect home you wish to buy.  However, this article gives you some helpful tips on how to process and move forward with the information that you find online during your home buying process.

Before you even get started with buying a home, make sure you know what type of home that you want.  That doesn’t just mean, bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, and location, although those are pretty much mandatory pieces of information you will need when searching for a home to buy.  Make a list of the items that you can and can’t “live without.”  If you definitely need a space for an office, make sure that the home you are buying has a room with enough outlets and phone lines to install your office equipment and hook up a modem.  If you need a lot of cabinets in your kitchen, make sure that you put that on the list and don’t settle for a home that has a kitchen which won’t be functional for you.  When you have your list of of absolute must-have’s, then make sure you know how much home you can afford so that you can find a home that not only fits your needs but fits in your budget.

Once you have established the exact type of home that you want, start your real estate search online.  There are hundreds of websites out there which carry what is called an IDX feed, which is access to the MLS feed (Realtor listings) of all homes for sale in your area.  By using a useful website, you can actually sort the homes for sale by bedrooms, baths, square footage, and price.  Once you have sorted down the homes which fit your basic requirements, you can view multiple pictures of the homes for sale to see what type of features they include.

After utilizing all of these preliminary tools, you may consider hiring a Realtor who can take you around, get you access to homes for sale, educate you on parts of town, school districts, and realistic pricing.  A Realtor should have their finger on the pulse of the real estate market and should be well-informed on where homes with your price range and parameters may be located. Also, a Realtor can assist you throughout the entire buying process as well.

When you are doing your preliminary research, be sure to pay attention to any open house information you may see about homes in which you are especially interested.  It is also advised that you drive the neighborhoods in which you are interested, as well as the surrounding area to see if they are going to fit your lifestyle as well as your budget.

All of these tools should help you make an informed and intelligent decision about the home you wish to buy.  These tips should also get you as close as possible to any existing home on the market which is in your price range, with the features you want, where you and your family can be happy.

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New Home Buying Trends of Millennials

Since the late 1990’s, home buyers interested in a buying a home have dramatically increased their usage of the Internet to find available homes for sale. In fact, 2016 statistics from the National Association of Realtors show that 95% of home buyers used Internet searches throughout their home buying process.  Of that 44% of home buyers started their home search online. And, 100% of home shoppers used the Internet to search for a specific property address.

Of these home buyers, 99% of Millennials, the new generation of home buyers, used the Internet to search for homes for sale compared to 89% of the Baby Boomer generation.  And, Millennials are known for their intensive and overwhelming dedication to complete research of any product that they will buy.  This generation is known for visiting multiple websites to compare just one product before purchasing it.  Also, Millennials are just now able to find employment in their field and begin to pay off student loans and begin their search for a home now that employment is on an upward trend after the Recession.  Because of the limited availability of extra cash for a down payment and the tightness of home inventory available to new home buyers, especially first-time home buyers, Millennials are interested in purchasing a home that does not need a lot of work or improvement in order to be able to support themselves and not spend money on repairs or renovations.

What has materialized out of this information is that Millennials may purchase a new home for sale, built brand new buy a builder instead of a “fixer-upper” home that requires additional money for upgrading or improvements.  Also, Millennials typically purchase their “starter home” with plans to move again soon in the future to a 2nd or 3rd home choice, so they actually spend less time in their first home purchase than previous first time home buyer trends would indicate.

This information has given valuable insight to professionals who assist Millennials in the search for the home that they are buying.  Builders know that Millennials may prefer to buy a new versus a previously owned home, so as long as they are a quality builder whose work is showcased effectively to a Millennial buyer, they start out with an “edge” over the competition.  This information has also helped Realtors who assist Millennial buyers by helping prep home sellers who have homes to sell in the price range of Millennial buyers to make sure their homes are improved, upgraded, and ready to sell without any additional construction or renovation work required.  Millennials tend to buy homes that are “just right.”

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