Building Explained…Part Two  (homebuyer education for 1/20/13)

***if
you know anyone who is thinking about buying a home, our next classes
are: 

Monday,
January 28, 2013, from 5pm-8pm, at the Marshall Center, conference room at 1009
E. McLoughlin Blvd. (kitty corner from Clark
College)

Saturday,
February 2, 2013, from 9am-12pm at the Vancouver YMCA located at 11324 NE 51st
Circle (corner of SR-500 & 112th/Gher Road).

Remember….with reservation…we will throw in lunch,
or dinner!  🙂 …we also have other class dates/times…check out the
website

Please go to www.learningtobuyahome.com, or www.traciedemars.com for information on ALL upcoming
Free Community Home Buyer Classes.  I do keep all updated information, and
directions there… I would love to hear from you about when you might like to
see the classes.  These classes are for you, so please, I love your comments and
feedback!!  🙂 **

Happy
Football Sunday~

Ahh….playoffs!
The sound of football fill my home, and as long as the 49’rs win, my husband
won’t be cranky!  Yes, my husband is a huge 49’rs fan….and has been for years!
In fact, my living rooms curtains are tan and dark red to support his team.
Crazy?  Probably!  😀
As of
right now, my poor husband is getting crankier, and crankier….his team had
better pull it together!

Before we
talk about the pros/cons of building a home, I want to take a moment to remind
you to bring in a buyers agent…..your OWN agent.  The builders agent works for
the builder/seller.  If you use the builders agent you are sharing your agent
with the seller….a Dual agent.  Having worked for a builder for 2 years, and
having worked as a buyers agent for 8 years now I can assure you that you will
always get a better deal when building when you have an agent who is working for
you…and only for you.

So,
let’s talk about the Pro’s and Con’s of building a new home….

Pro’s….

• • Choosing your lot

• • Choosing your flooplan, and making changes based on your families
    lifestyle

• • Choosing your colors and style for cabinets, counters flooring

• • Excellent Builder warranties

• • The home is built up to current energy codes

• • Many builders have Green Building certification

• • Tankless Water Heaters for (almost) endless hot water!!

• • No expensive home maintenance for awhile (you will have to maintain the home
    though)

• Brand new appliances, roof, windows, siding, etc

Con’s….

• • Can’t lock in an interest rate until the home is about 30 days from
    completion.  So if interest rates are 3.25% now, and 3.5% when the home is
    almost complete, you will have the higher interest rate.

• • With an established neighborhood you can drive around and get a ‘feel’ for
    the neighborhood and its personality.  With a new neighborhood you don’t have
    that…it is a guess on how that neighborhood might end up…..  rentals?  older
    couples when you have young children?  Young couples when all you want is quiet?

• • Building can take 4 months or longer depending on permit time, and
    construction time.

• • New homes usually have smaller lots, and will either have a lot of 2 story
    homes, or one story homes with no yard.  Either way there isn’t as much privacy
    with a new home as with an older home.

• • Builder reputation.  This can go either way.  There are builders that are
    building ‘flash’…and inexpensively.  This is great if you want something to
    look pretty, and don’t plan on being there long enough for the things that they
    built cheaply to start falling apart  There are other builders that are more
    expensive, but build solid.  You may not get as much ‘flash’, but you will get
    more substance.  Research the builder, and see what folks are saying….not just
    now, but see what they say 10 years from now.  Find an older development of the
    builders and drive through it….this may also give you an idea on not only how
    well the homes hold up, but what type of people live in their communities.
    No…this is not being ‘snobby’.  When someone buys a home they aren’t just
    buying the home, but the neighborhood as well.  A good neighborhood goes a long
    way…

• It just isn’t the builder you need to research, but the contractors they
  hire.  Who does their flooring?  Their cabinetry?  What are their reputations?
  For example,on my home the home itself has held up well, but the flooring and
  especially the cabinetry has not.  Eleven years later our cabinets are falling
  apart…literally…falling off the walls, off the hinges, apart from
  itself….terrible!

With land one of the biggest con’s of building is finding your own land
and doing all the research on it to see if it is buildable, and that the well,
utilities, etc are all there, available, and put in.  This can add another 4-6
months and more money for you.  If you want to have a home built on acreage, the
best thing to do is let the builder take the risk…not you!  Find a builder
with land in their inventory to be built on, and with your buyers agent write up
an offer just like you normally would.  They (the builder) takes care of the
land development, building, etc.  So much less stress and worry for you!  If the
builder you love doesn’t have the land in inventory, see if they are willing to
do the package for you…this may take a bit more time, and the builder may
charge you for it, but again….it is about risk.

As we talked about last week, it is about the same cost to build a new
home, in a development, now as it is to build a new one.  However, if you want
acreage, it is still cheaper to buy an already built home on acreage than it is
to buy.  There are advantages to having a home built though that could offset
the cost.  Look at your pros/cons, sit down with your buyers agent and talk it
out.  As always, a buyers agent works for you, and wants to help you find the
home that is right for YOU!  🙂

Please call, email, text, or even facebook me (at Tracie DeMars Real Estate) anytime with any questions, or
if there is anything I can do to assist you with your home buying adventure! As
your buyers agent, I am, as always, here to help!! 😀

Thank you
again for your business and for your referrals!

…as always…if you
have already purchased a home, or no longer would like to receive these emails
from me, please let me know and I will be happy to remove you from receiving any
more.

Thank you again for attending the home buyer
education classes, and I hope that you will continue to refer the classes out to
your friends, family, and co-workers. Upcoming class dates and times are located
at www.freehomebuyerclasses.com. Just click on the link on the left hand
side. Or you can go to www.learningtobuyahome.com and click the links.

We appreciate your
referrals and word of mouth! Also, if you have somewhere that we can place the
flyers at, please let me know….
:-D

Next Week:   Credit….explained –this will be next
week and our resident loan guru, Chris Berg with Pinnacle Home Mortgage will
help us with this.  (coming up –  Inspections…explained & Mortgage
Insurance….explained)
Last Week:
Building….part one…

Remember
that you can always go to ‘Tracie DeMars Real
Estate’ on
Facebook for all of my weekly blogs and upcoming
class dates/times/locations. I
post the weekly blogs on there as
well.

Have a great day, and I will talk to you soon,
;-D