30 Minutes A Day

I just found an interesting study that looked at time spent by apartment dwellers and homeowners on various activities. As you may expect, sleeping was number one for both groups (although a little higher for renters than homeowners). But, in the category of leisure, renters spent 30 minutes longer a day on these activities than homeowners, which is 15 % higher! The author links this finding to a variety of issues, but partly due to the exterior maintenance and lawncare that a homeowner must complete that is not necessary for an apartment dweller.

(Study information may be found here - "Housing Situation and Time Use." Jack Goodman, Hartrey Advisors - 703/527-6478 - jackgoodman@hartrey.com - www.hartrey.com - first draft: December 2, 2005)

So, the obvious correlation to this blog is that our homes are maintenance-free on the outside, much like an apartment. However, homeowners get the pride of ownership and benefits of owning real estate to go along with the extra leisure time.

30 minutes a day is 3.5 hours a week, 14 hours a month, 182 hours a year, and a whopping 3640 hours if you live in our home for 20 years. 3640 hours is roughly 6 months more of leisure time added onto your life. If you pair that number with the fact that people live longer with less stress and more fun in their lives, you have a magical result!

What does 30 minutes a day look like to you? Learn a new language, pick up woodworking, travel more, read more books, tutor an at-risk youth? The possibilities are endless!

The difference a year makes

Wow. What a difference a year makes.

This year for us at Timber Run has marked some memorable milestones - going vertical on our first 12 homes and clubhouse, having our first homeowners move in, welcoming over 1000 visitors to our model homes, winning a home tour award, and getting on board with Social Media (Twitter & Facebook). I am proud of where we sit today.

On a more global note, today marks the day that the Dow Jones Industrial Average overcomes the 10,000 mark for the first time since this time last year. While this is a momentous event for a number of reasons for the world markets, I am thinking of how this directly correlates to the housing market. I pulled a chart of the Dow for the last year. It looks like this:

See the obvious valley? That is what we call the "low point" in the market. However, if you didn't sell your assets in the market at this time, how low was it really? Is it really relevant to you at all? In a "hold" position, it really isn't.

Now, consider this, what if you had $10,000 cash that was given to you to invest. When would have been the best time to buy into the Dow? Right - at the lowest point. If you had invested $10,000 in the middle of March at 6,440 and sold it today at 10,000, you would have made $5,500 in six months. Not too shabby right?

So, now you ask, how does this all relate to home sales? The best time to buy a home is just the same time as the best time to buy in the market - at the "low point." That's great, but how do we know where the "low point" may be? Well, maybe we don't, but we can certainly see when things are beginning pick back up again. Maybe we don't buy at the exact bottom, but just as we start to see steady results that indicate we are on the uptick.

That time is now. Pending home sales are up and the positive housing data continues to filter in through various media sources. If you could look at a chart of the housing market, just like the Dow chart above, and see the obvious bottom, it would make perfect sense to take advantage of the unique opportunity of today.

Remarkable Experiences

OK - so it's been a while. What can I say, we've been super busy! We opened the Clubhouse and have had two huge events so far. We had over 60 people through this weekend alone thanks to the New Home Tour!

The title of this post is "Remarkable Experiences." For those of you that are unaware, our Mission Statement as an Epcon Builder is "To Build Homes, Neighborhoods and a Lifestyle that Provides One Remarkable Experience." Recently, we've been giving this a lot of thought and really trying to think of how to provide a Remarkable Experience for everyone - from our existing homeowners, to customers visiting us for the first time, to the community of Greenfield at large.

Most recently, we have focused on our employees, Andrea and Jim. What can we do to make their jobs remarkable too? I think we've taken a pretty big step and one that I am tremendously excited about! We have given Andrea & Jim the ability to finish out one of our existing homes as a "Staff's Choice" Showcase Home. We told them to pull out all the stops and surprise us with their creativity. Jim has been building homes for years and Andrea certainly has a style sense about her, so I am SO excited to see the result! I've heard just a few peeps from the office next door about what is to come, so I'll be sure to keep you posted. I am certain their selections for this home will be a Remarkable Experience for that home owner.

Home Warranty - What's the Big Deal?

Many existing homes that are listed on the MLS by a Realtor are advertised with a Home Warranty. While this is a very beneficial thing to have, (trust me, we used ours once or twice!) it is usually good for only a year and covers only major items with a deductible. In fact, the word deductible insinuates what this warranty actually is - insurance. It is an insurance policy so that you have a little peace of mind that the seller is not selling a house with a ton of problems. Nothing would be worse than moving in and having the air conditioner break the next day!

So, I think, sometimes, it just doesn't seem like a big deal when we explain to people that we offer a New Home Warranty with the homes here at Timber Run. It's expected that all homes have a warranty. However, I'd like to take just a minute to explain why ours is so different than the traditional Home Warranty for existing homes.

The warranty we offer on our homes has a 2 year, what I like to call, "Bumper to Bumper" warranty. So, if really anything goes wrong in the first 2 years, we'll handle it. We warrant that your Home will be free from Defects caused by faulty workmanship or defective materials; faulty installation of Plumbing, Electrical, Heating, Cooling, and Ventilating Systems, or poor workmanship and materials in its roof and roof systems. For fixtures, appliances and other items of equipment, the Warranty is good for one year. Then, during the next two years, the defects caused by poor workmanship in the roof and roof systems are still covered. Finally, Major Structual Defects are warranted for ten years! Now, of course, these warranties are all in addition to the manufacturer's warranties on the items installed in your home, such as the HVAC unit, water heater, etc.

So, while we can't make the inside of your home completely maintenance-free, like the outside, we can go along way to making sure you don't have to deal with problems that may arise in a previously owned home. Next time you're shopping for a new home, whether existing or considering building from scratch, be sure to ask about the Home Warranty. They are NOT all the same!

National Model Park

As you have probably seen from the most recent slide shows I've posted on the blog, Tom and I recently made a trip to New Albany, Ohio and the National Model Park. We have been there several times, but wanted to make another trip. After our visit, we certainly felt reassured that the two new floor plans we are going to offer at Timber Run are going to please a lot of people.

The Aboreta and Bramante are two of the most efficient floorplans I have ever seen. We have a fair amount of customers that really do not spend very much time at home and feel that the Abbey and Canterbury are just a little too large for what they need. The Aboreta and Bramante fill that gap for sure. Plus, we happened to visit on a beautiful sunny day and were able to experience the huge courtyards, which will impress everyone I think.

I think everyone on the bus tour to the National Model Park will be very pleased with what they find in New Albany. I can't wait to get started on these homes!