Archives for April 2013

HOME BUYING: You VS. Your Parents

I often hear from young adults today that they are finding it difficult to establish themselves in the housing market. Owning your own home is a central part of the American dream, and a pretty important milestone in any person’s life, so it’s bad news if young people today are having a tougher go at it than we did. But are they really?

I decided to dig up the statistics all the way back to 1979 to find out how affordable a home has been for the average American over that time period, based on median home price, median family income, interest rates, debt levels, and more. The results were both surprising and complicated, so I decided to present them in infographic form to make it easier for my readers to make sense of all the data I looked at.

Whether you’re a young professional eager to buy your first home, a parent who’s about to send their first child off to a college, or a real estate professional trying to make sense of current trends, pay close attention because it’s time to take an honest look at how the average family has fared over the past three decades.

home-buyingsource: www.alohatony.com

 

TOWNHOUSE IN NORTH LONDON STELLAR INTERIOR DESIGN

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When these homeowners purchased this new build, 3000 square foot townhouse in North London’s Crouch End, they turned it over to LLI Design during the build stage to heighten the drama in certain areas while maintaining a livable and warm residence. The rear exterior boasts a double height living space showcased with walls of windows that open up to the backyard garden area.

North London Townhouse Interior Design by LLI Design in interior design  Category

The bottom floor houses the kitchen and dining rooms with an open tread staircase that leads to the main living room above. The mostly white space remains light and airy and perfect for socializing. I love the contrasting black kitchen island – it helps the kitchen from disappearing in the sea of white.

North London Townhouse Interior Design by LLI Design in interior design  Category

The glass banister on the stairs doesn’t visually clutter up the double volume space and it helps keep the staircase from overwhelming the room.

North London Townhouse Interior Design by LLI Design in interior design  Category

North London Townhouse Interior Design by LLI Design in interior design  Category

North London Townhouse Interior Design by LLI Design in interior design  Category

Large tiles were used on the ground floor of the interior and they carried it through to the patio where it helps to expand the living space.

North London Townhouse Interior Design by LLI Design in interior design  Category

North London Townhouse Interior Design by LLI Design in interior design  Category

via DesignMilk

 

A Musical Bathtub and 5 Other Smart Home Products

Would you buy any of the wow products HouseLogic’s intrepid reporter spotted at the home builder show?

After hiking miles of aisles past thousands of products (you’re welcome!) displayed at the 2013 International Builders Show in Las Vegas, I found a few designed to make your life easier, cooler, more efficient, and more fun. (Of course, many come with a steep price.) Come on, wouldn’t you want these?

Music in Your Showerhead

Showerhead

Credit: Kohler

Closet crooners, rejoice! Kohler’s Moxie shower head features a Bluetooth-enabled speaker so you can pipe your favorite playlist directly into your morning shower. The waterproof (obviously) wireless speaker attaches with a magnet to the shower head so that — even if you can’t carry a tune — you can detach it post-shower and carry the little speaker with you while you decide which socks to wear. The lithium-ion battery gives 7 hours of play and is rechargeable via USB. List price is $199.

Music Inside Your Bathtub

Can’t help but give innovative Kohler another shout-out for its VibrAcoustic hydrotherapy technology that lets you transfer your music directly into your tub via an MP3 device. Plug in your iPod, pick some mood music, and VibrAcoustic makes the walls of your tub — and the surrounding water — gently vibrate to the rhythms of your tunes. Talk about an immersive musical experience!

VibrAcoustic technology adds $2,400 to the price of your tub. Need even more fun? Include chromatherapy (colored lights) for another $600.

Solar-Ready-or-Not HVAC

Solar HVAC

Credit: John Riha for HouseLogic

Sure, you’d like to go solar, but maybe you’re not sure how to go about it. No worries —Lennox SunSource solar-ready air conditioners and heat pumps are ready when you are. When you decide to go solar and save on your utility bills, an HVAC pro simply plugs compatible solar panels into the unit — there’s no need to fool around with your breaker box or add a power converter.

If you’re not using your HVAC, the unit simply routes the juice from your solar panels into your home to power your appliances, lights, and other electrical goodies.

A high-efficiency unit runs $2,500 to $3,500 installed, depending on its capacity. Solar panels available through Lennox are $1,200-$1,500 per; a typical house uses at least eight.

You may be eligible for a federal tax credit of up to 9% of the cost of “solar-ready equipment.” If you also invest in solar panels, then you may be able to claim a federal tax credit of up to 30% for the whole kit and kaboodle. Check with your tax pro.

Don’t forget: Many states offer additional credits and rebates for solar installations.

Is Your Refrigerator in Hot Water?

Hot water refrigerator

Credit: John Riha for HouseLogic

Your refrigerator wants to be so much more to you than cold. The GE Café series has a touch-control, on-demand hot water dispenser that serves up H2O at four pre-set heat settings. You can get warm water for baking or piping hot water for instant oatmeal. Yup, you can get chilled water and ice cubes from the door-mounted dispenser, too. The sleek fridge retails for $3,299.

Even More Keyless

Fob lock

Credit: John Riha for HouseLogic

Biometric locks have been on the market for a while now, but Simplicikey takes high-techsecurity one step further: a handheld key fob locks and unlocks your door from up to 50 feet away.

Add the new Keycloud technology and you’ll be able to lock your door using your smartphone, tablet, and laptop. Use the Keycloud app to check the status of any of your exterior doors, even at a second house or rental property. Cost: $199-$279 (the app is free).

Private Screening

Bamboo curtain

Credit: John Riha for HouseLogic

On the low-tech end of things, I saw this at a booth and thought it was pretty clever. No, it’s not an actual product, but part of a booth design. Take a large planter, fill it with polished rocks, and stick some bamboo stalks in it to create a tres modern fence. Use it as an indoor partition or outdoor privacy screen.

Energize Your Tax Return

energize-your-tax-return

Maximize your home mortgage deductions

Use your mortgage deduction for a maximum tax refund. Watch this H&R Block tutorial for more info.

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New Homes Provide the Living Space Buyers Want

home ownershipResults from NAHB’s What Home Buyers Really Want  survey and a combination of Census Bureau/HUD data show that new homes generally do a good job of satisfying the typical buyer’s desire for living space, especially when compared to existing homes on the market.

A simple way to get an idea of how new and existing homes match up with buyer preferences is to look at the share of homes above a particular size threshold. For example, 62 percent of the recent and prospective home buyers in NAHB’s survey want a home that’s at least 2,000 square feet—exactly the same as the share of new single-family homes started in 2011. In comparison, only 42 percent of existing owner homes (either owner-occupied or vacant for sales) are of this size.

But not all existing homes are available for purchase at a given time. Of the homes on the market, only one-third have 2,000 square feet or more of living space.

A result like this shouldn’t be too surprising. Half of all homes in the U.S. are over 37 years old, and preferences for things like size, amenities, location of particular amenities, and floor plans change over time. Builders who don’t do a good job of responding to current preferences are not likely to stay in business for long, so new homes really should match what current buyers want in most cases. Looking at the size of homes is an easy way to demonstrate this, because it’s one characteristic that’s readily available and quantifiable.

Looking at the distribution in more detail, the size of home most commonly wanted by buyers is in the 2,000 to 2,500 square foot range, which is also the most common size for new single-family homes started. Existing homes, on the other hand, are more likely to be under 1,600—or even under 1,200—square feet, a size relatively few buyers say they want.

To view this original article, visit the NAHB blog, Eye on Housing

Attach Shelves to Your Closet Door to Add Storage

closet storageCloset space is one of those things that few houses ever seem to have enough of. If you need to add some extra storage to a room,  build some shelves onto the inside of the closet door. Provided that you have just a few inches of depth, you can give yourself plenty of room for shoes, belts, or other accessories.

All you need is a few simple wooden boards from any home improvement store, and maybe a little paint if you want them to look nice. Other than that, it’s just a matter of nailing everything together. You’ll want to make sure you build in some guardrails on the shelves to ensure things don’t slide all off, too. You might not be able to store too much heavy stuff, or risk putting excess strain on your door hinges. However, just a couple shelves can help organization immensely.

Click the link to read more. Closet storage | Ana White

Ecofriendly and Salvaged Style in a Montreal Triplex

Montreal_homeShortly after buying a triplex in Montreal, first-time homeowners Dominique Leroux and Anne-Marie McSween attended a local environmental rally that made them rethink their design approach. The two spent the next couple of months researching ecofriendly design methods, then enlisted architect Vouli Manfredis of Studio MMA to do the renovation, which lasted a year and included reusing as much leftover material as possible from the gutted interior.
Montreal_home2
Most of the salvaged original wood framing became the new flooring, while local artisans repurposed the rest into kitchen cabinetry, a dining room table, stair treads and more. Even Leroux’s and McSween’s families stepped in to donate unused wood and furniture. “Everything has a story,” says Leroux.

Montreal_home_3read the entire article at Houzz.com

 

Spring Outdoor Maintenance List

There always something to do when it comes to owning a home. Here are a few maintenance issues to consider with it comes to your outdoor home maintenance. Spring DIY Outdoor Maintenance List Infographicsource: http://www.ricksfencing.com/