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9 Reasons to Choose New Homes Over Resales

As the mortgage crisis continues to inundate the market with distressed properties, house hunters have no shortage of cheap, foreclosed homes to pick through. But despite all those deals in the market for previously owned homes, consumers shouldn’t overlook the potential benefits of buying a new home.

“New homes usually sell higher per square foot then resale homes,” says Jack McCabe of McCabe Research & Consulting in Deerfield Beach, Fla. “But their selling points, I think, are pretty strong.”

To help consumers understand the advantages of buying a new home, U.S. News spoke with a handful of experts and compiled a list of nine reasons to choose a new home over a resale.

1. Customization: Many homebuilders allow buyers to help design the property, which helps create a living space tailored to the consumer’s tastes. New-home buyers, for example, can often decide where their bathroom might go, choose their favorite flooring or pick the exterior paint color. Buyers moving into a subdivision can sometimes pick the lot they like best.

“There is a lot of flexibility for [new-home buyers] to kind of put their personal signature on the product,” says Patrick Costello, president of Forty West Builders, based in Ellicott City, Md. “Those kind of things you can’t do with a used house — it’s just not possible.”

2. Building envelope: Building codes have mandated higher energy-efficiency standards since they began to address the issue in the late 1970s, says Kevin Morrow, senior program manager for the National Association of Home Builders’ green-building programs. The most recent International Energy Conservation Code came out in 2009 and required about 17% more efficiency than three years earlier, he says.

“So using that as sort of a gauge to how newer homes should perform from an efficiency standpoint compared to older homes, it’s pretty clear that just as homes meet code, they are going to be more efficient,” Morrow says.

Newly constructed homes use energy more efficiently in two ways, Morrow says. First, they tend to have a tighter-sealed building envelope, or the enclosed part of a structure, that helps prevent conditioned air — cool air in the summer, warm air in the winter — from escaping. Features that create this envelope include higher-efficiency insulation, doors and windows.

“Gone are the days of the single-pane window,” Morrow says. “Now, I think you are starting to see triple- and quadruple-paned windows. These are windows that are designed to really minimize the transfer of heat either from warm to cold or vice versa, and they of course will help the building envelope.”

3. Green appliances: The more energy-efficient mechanics of the house also help reduce utility bills for new-home buyers, Morrow says. New homes often include green systems and appliances — such as high-efficiency stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, water heaters, furnaces or air conditioning units — that homes built years ago might not.

“The conditioning equipment is usually considered to be one of the larger energy-consumption devices, but certainly, those kitchen appliances matter,” Morrow says.

To read the rest of this great article, click here. http://realestate.msn.com/article.aspx?cp-documentid=25600868

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What Kind of Return Can I Expect From a Remodel?

When considering a remodeling project, cost is definitely an important factor. However, you must also consider whether a remodeling project will retain its value if you decide to sell your home.

Recently, Remodeling Magazine and REALTOR® Magazine published their annual Remodeling Cost vs. Value Report for 2010, which takes 35 common remodeling projects and estimates the average recouped cost for each project in 80 cities across the United States. Although these itemized estimates are based on hypothetical projects for an average American home, they are helpful in providing an overview of remodeling costs.

On a national level, the report indicates that the largest percentage of recouped costs derived from such projects as steel entry door replacement (102.1 percent of costs returned), garage door replacement (83.9 percent of costs returned) and wooden deck additions (72.8 percent of costs returned). Many of the highest financial returns were seen from projects where building costs were less than $15,000.

On a local level, estimated recouped costs were much greater than most cities in the nation, according to the report. Below are the top ten remodeling projects that yielded the highest returns for homeowners in Austin, Texas in 2010:

•Steel entry door replacement (116.6 percent)
•Garage door replacement (98.7 percent)
•Basement remodel (84.3 percent)
•Attic bedroom (78.3 percent)
•Wooden window Replacement (76.9 percent)
•Vinyl siding replacement (75.5 percent)
•Minor kitchen remodel (74.2 percent)
•Major kitchen remodel (73.8 percent)
•Wooden deck addition (72.8 percent)
•Vinyl window replacement (71.5 percent)
Keep in mind that these numbers are just estimates and that every home is different; the cost of a new kitchen in one home could cost significantly less than the same project in another home, for example. We encourage you to talk to your Central Texas REALTOR®, as he or she can help you determine how to get the most bang for your buck when it comes to remodeling your home.

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TDHCA offering $45M to homebuyer assistance program

The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has announced the release of $45 million in mortgage credit certificate authority through the Texas Mortgage Credit Program. "Despite all the negatives we hear from other states, the fact is that the Texas economy – and the demand for homeownership – both remain quite healthy," says Michael Gerber, TDHCA executive director. "Many families want and are ready to take that exciting step toward homeownership, and TDHCA wants to help them achieve their dreams through safe, reliable homebuyer lending products offered through the state, coupled with responsible homebuyer education." The program provides a dollar-for-dollar reduction of a borrower's tax liability, not to exceed $2,000 annually, and is expected to help approximately 1,000 low- to moderate-income households in Texas purchase their first home.
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