Maine Modular & Custom Home News

I know…it’s only the beginning of the fall season, but this is the best time to prepare for the upcoming winter.  Use what we have left of the warm weather to do the work you need to face the cold weather to come.  Bob Vila has a pretty good checklist to follow for all homeowners.  This is a suggested bi-annual list to prepare for the seasons.  Modular home owners will keep their homes in tip top shape following these maintainence tips.   Manufactured home owners have a few specific items that they need to maintain to face up to the winter ahead.  You will need to check your heat tape and get it plugged in, among other things.  Read How To Winterize You Manufactured Home to make sure your home is ready for the snow.

You don’t have to go broke making your new home look classy.  Small changes and little details can change the appearance of the ordinary and turn it into the extraordinary.  I especially like the high end accents found in This Old House Magazine.  Cambria makes quartz switch plates and and knobs that will match your countertops, giving your room a pulled together, high end home design feeling.  The great news is that it won’t empty your wallet.  These pretty little additions start at about $15 each.  Browse through all of the “Bang-for-Your-Buck” ideas and see if there is one that catches your fancy.

The future for building new homes in general is changing rapidly.  New green building techniques are appearing all the time.  Creative architecture is becoming more popular in all types of building; commercial as well as residential.  However, if you had asked me the future of modular building technology, I wouldn’t have come up with some of the ideas found at the MoMA’s exhibit in Philadelphia.  The exhibit includes the “Cellophane House” which is a glass house with solar and photovoltaic panels, the “System 3″ which features a wall less bathroom and the “Micro Compact Home” which is described as an Airstream trailer on stilts.  I’m pretty sure I’m ready for new energy ideas, but the wall less bathroom hopefully won’t come into vogue until I’ve departed this earth!  To read more about these exciting new ideas for modular building technology read this article in the Philadelphia Weekly or go to the MoMA blog.

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.

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. 

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.

If you are a visual person you probably don’t need help imagining what your bedroom will look like painted your favorite hue of lilac.  However, if you need a little help seeing just how that ivy colored trim will look with your lilac walls, check out the color assistant at My Home Ideas.  This great tool lets you choose from a variety of rooms and styles and then peruse through hundreds of color choices for the walls, trim and ceiling.  You can point and click trying literally thousands of different combinations - instead of guessing what your choice will look like, the virtual room will change colors right before your eyes - then you will know for sure if your room will be everything you imagined.  It’s lots of fun - try it out : The Color Assistant