Maine Modular & Custom Home News

Did you know that if your refrigerator just turned 14 years old it has already outlived its life expectancy?  Also, if your dishwasher turned 9 years old this year, it could be on its last leg.  Your alarm system may function for 20+ years, but the technology will have changed well before that.  Once your new home is completed each part of it will start to be consumed at different rates.  Much depends on the quality of the item and what type of maintenance you give it. Of course some items will never need replacing, the brick fireplace should last longer than you do! This Old House has posted a compilation of life expectancies for various things in your home, or used to build your home.  Read it here; It’s not too early to start planning for routine replacement, no matter when your home was built.

Typically we leave electrical issues to the electricians, but it would be nice to have a certain sense of what the electricians are doing within our home, so that we can be assured we are getting what we want and what we paid for.  It is far less expensive to make sure the electrical work is done correctly while we are in the building process, than it is to correct it later.  Electrical work is one of those things that we need do have done before the sheetrock is up and painted to perfection.  Otherwise we might have to put a hole in our wall to put in the electrical items we forgot and then try to patch it up to match the original.  I don’t know about you, but the patching thing never works quite right for me.  It always looks less than perfect and well, it looks, you know, like a patch.  Visit this sight to learn the basics about the electrical make up of your new home.  Taking a moment to make sure you are asking the correct questions will keep you from having to patch things up later.  Click here for a few tips…..or if you think you know all about electricity and love taking quizes, try some of these electrical quizzes.

There’s a new development in town.  You drive through it and every home has a well manicured lawn and is exquisitly landscaped.  It appears to be an answer to your dreams, and you want your new home located right in the heart of this development.  If you are using a modular building technology to build your dream home, you better check the covenants that apply to the development first.  Covenants are meant to protect the home owner so the value of their new home never decreases due to something the neighbors have done.  In theory it sounds wonderful, and sometimes it is.  Often modular technologies are excluded due to a misnomer that the building quality is somehow inferior.  This could not be further from the truth, as has been documented over and over again.  There are other things you need to look for in a covenant document.  Anything can be written in as forbidden; it’s a private document for a private development.  Check this housing resource guide for a list of some of the more common items found in a covenant.  It will convince you to read a covenant thoroughly before signing on the bottom line.  Additionally, you need to keep in  mind that restrictions can be added to a covenant, usually with a vote from the association.  There may be times when your needs are overruled by a board decision.  Often living within a restricted community has both positive and negatives attached to it.  Make sure you weigh out the pros and cons as they apply to your lifestyle.

Controlling storm water run-off should begin with prevention.  Whenever a contruction site disturbs the natural habitat, ground cover or canopy cover, it will disturb the storm water run-off.  The plan should be to have effective excavation techniques that will have the least impact, and the greatest results.  This is possibly more time consuming initially in the project, but in the long run compliance issues can be avoided with some creative solutions.  Follow this link to the NAHB website to read up on storm water concerns during construction.

We’ve all heard the terrible statistics about the housing market.  Foreclosures abound and the resale market keeps slipping.  The government has responded with the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008.  The following is a summary taken from the National Council of State Housing Agencies.

First Time Home Buyer Credit

• Establishes a first-time home buyer refundable tax credit equal to 10 percent of the purchase price of a principal residence, not to exceed $7,500.
• Phases out the credit for taxpayers with incomes over $75,000 ($150,000 for joint returns).
• Prevents credit from being allowed to any taxpayer for any taxable year if:

 1. The taxpayer receives the District of Columbia first-time home buyer credit.

2.  The residence is financed by the proceeds of a tax-exempt MRB.

3. The taxpayer is a nonresident alien.

4.  The taxpayer disposes of such residence before the close of the taxable year.

• Allows the credit for purchases on or after April 9, 2008 and before July 1, 2009.
• Requires taxpayers receiving the credit to repay it over 15 years in equal installments by imposing a surcharge on the taxpayers’ annual income tax.

Check with your financial institution to see if you are qualified to take this first time home buyer credit.

How can you tell if your home is green?  I found this quick quiz on the National Geographic site the Green Guide. It will help you get oriented to make sure you are checking in the right places.  Whether you are looking to build a new home or upgrade an existing home, these are the items you want to inspect.  The quiz gets you to think about if you know the correct answer.  It really doesn’t matter if you choose correctly or not, the answer is explained either way.  You might surprise yourself at how much you already know about being green…try it out here. 

Your new home is all built, but you have one problem, too many mosquitoes.  Well, it’s time to build an addition then - a bat house.  This is the original green solution to pesky mosquitoes, wasps, beetles and moths.  Did you know that a single bat can consume over 600 mosquitoes in just one hour?  That’s what I call pest control.  Forget the chemical sprays, invite the bats to play!  Bats like small dark spaces to live.  Building a bat house can be fun and it can be a family project.  Here are some easy directions from This Old House - so get started today.  Build a new bat house! 

The Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago has a great exhibit for the green enthusiasts.  It is a 2500+ square foot home that the museum touts as “the greenest home in Chicago.”  It first caught my eye because it was built using modular building technology.  Comforting to know that we are definitely on the right track when we say our systems built homes are inherently green.  This particular home was built with all of the latest technology and you can learn all about it at the Museum’s website.  The one item I loved more than anything was what I have deemed the green machine.  It’s actually known as a trek bike, and you can see it in the children’s bedroom at the museum.  The idea is fantastic.  The children have to peddle the trek bike approximately 30 minutes to generate enough power to play their favorite video game.  Now that’s what I call a win-win situation.  Exercise first, then play the video game.  Motivating - fun - and totally green!  I wish it had been available when my children were younger.  Read everything about the greenest home.