As Retirement Nears, More Are Moving Up to Luxury
The number of active-adult communities for retirees in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area has surged from less than four in 1995 to 30 today, with many more on the way. U.S. Home Corp. regional Vice President Jerry Berman notes that these developments are in high demand, and builders with little experience in such communities are jumping on the bandwagon. Senior home buyers generally want smaller properties with fewer maintenance tasks; no stairs so they can age in place; and plenty of upscale amenities, which means they are taking on more debt to afford the luxury lifestyle. In fact, units in age-restricted communities in some counties in Maryland and Virginia cost more than $500,000. A growing number of retirees are obtaining mortgages, cash-out refinancings and home-equity loans, which AARP's John Gist believes is unwise when medical expenses and the potential for serious illnesses are on the rise. Julie Martin, research director at the University of Virginia's Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service, attributes the popularity of luxury retirement homes to the desire to disprove the common belief that seniors are poor. Meanwhile, municipalities continue to approve age-restricted projects because they generate tax revenue and do not burden schools and other public services. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (01/22/04) P. B1; Cho, David; Seymour, Liz
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The Average U.S. Bathroom Has Tripled in Size in the Past Decade
Prior to 1980, most homes had just one bathroom; but by 2000, according to the NAHB, 35% had two-and-a-half bathrooms or more. Moreover, NAHB notes that today's bathrooms are three times larger than those built during the 1990s to accommodate whirlpool tubs, showers, dual sinks and toilet stalls, among other features. Some homes even have his-and-her bathroom suites and full baths for each secondary or child's bedroom. Research by American Standard suggests that U.S. consumers desire additional bathroom space. (www.mcall.com)
Allentown Morning Call (01/18/04) P. G1
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Making a Grand Entrance Can Create a Strong First Impression
Many homes built in the 1950s lack front entrances; and though home owners generally prefer the convenience of side doors, architects believe that front doors improve a home's appearance. According to Elmhurst, IL-based architect John Belcher, they "create a warm and welcoming vestibule to the house." "Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design" author Murray Silverstein notes, "Much of the character of a house is determined by the experience of coming and going at every scale." Experts insist that a front entrance enhances a residence's curb appeal, sets it apart from others in the neighborhood and makes it more valuable to prospective buyers. According to Belcher, home owners can easily jazz up the front entrance with lead windows, a porch, landscaping, lighting and/or a bright-colored door. (www.chicagotribune.com)
Chicago Tribune (01/16/04) P. 1; Bozzo, Donna
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Tree Houses Put Home Owners Out on a Limb
Home owners can live out their childhood fantasies by building tree houses on their properties, shelling out anywhere from $3,000 for a do-it-yourself project to $300,000 for a multi-story structure with plumbing. Many tree houses are built onto an existing residence and used for meditation or recreation areas, guest rooms or home offices. Upscale tree houses might have plumbing, electricity, bedrooms, fireplaces and even kitchens — although most are just 250 to 300 square feet in size and sit as much as 16 feet in the air. Affluent home owners typically purchase tree houses like they would motor homes or sailboats, but less wealthy individuals have been known to tap into their home equity to fund such projects. (www.shns.com)
Scripps Howard News Service (01/20/04) Rosenthal, Sharon Schatz
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'Mother-in-Law' Rooms to Go Legal
Officials in North Port, FL, may soon amend a law that bans so-called "mother-in-law" apartments, or separate residential units within single-family homes — generally in the attic or garage — for aging or sick relatives. To avoid overcrowding neighborhoods, however, Commissioner Barbara Gross believes the city should continue to prohibit rental units to non-family members. According to Commissioner Joseph Fink, many home owners caring for their parents are forced to build such units illegally without the appropriate inspections. (www.herald-trib.com)
Sarasota Herald-Tribune (01/14/04) P. BV1; Whittle, Patrick
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Unclear Future for Home Building Stocks
Home builder stocks posted significant gains in 2003, and many analysts expect healthy returns during the coming year due to the improving economy and still-low interest rates. They do not foresee a slowdown in construction activity, even though mortgage activity is on the decline. "We think that housing represents for many people a stable investment at a time when there is a lot of stress about equities," notes Kenneth Reid, editor of The Spear Report. However, some watchers are worried that the sector will weaken with a significant jump in interest rates; and Thomson Financial believes that insider selling at many of the nation's builders is a strong indicator of that. (www.ap.org)
Associated Press (01/13/04) Beck, Rachel
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It's 10 A.M. Do You Know Where Your Workers Are?
Even with an increasing number of workers performing their jobs from the privacy of their homes, employers can monitor their activities. Companies can take advantage of new technologies to track their phone calls and Internet usage, deny them access to certain Web sites, make sure they are working in specific applications and take note of every keystroke. Employers can even monitor workers whose performance is not easily measured, concentrating on finished tasks or employing collaboration software to make sure the job is progressing as planned. Research shows that telecommuting can boost productivity and improve job satisfaction by eliminating distractions, and companies that implement Web-monitoring tools can experience additional productivity gains. Oklahoma-based Chaparral Energy, for instance, saw the time employees spend online decrease from one hour to under 15 minutes per day after the company began tracking their Internet activities. Though companies benefit from tools that gauge performance and restrict Web usage, experts note that spying on employees can hurt morale and hinder productivity. (www.wsj.com)
Wall Street Journal (01/12/04) P. R1; Richmond, Riva
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Home Builders Top Forbes' Best Managed Companies List
Underpinned by attractively low interest rates, home buyers have kept residential builders busy against the backdrop of an otherwise bleak economic landscape. It may come as no surprise, subsequently, to find home builders leading the yearly list of America's best-managed firms, as compiled and released by Forbes magazine. In fact, home builder NVR Inc. of McLean, VA, topped the list, followed in the No. 2 slot by Denver-based builder M.D.C. Holdings. Also making the top 10 list was No. 4-ranked D.R. Horton of Arlington, TX. (www.csmonitor.com)
Christian Science Monitor (01/12/04) P. 20
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Realtors Cut Home Price Appreciation Estimate
In light of the recent rise in mortgage rates — which subsequently curtailed sales activity toward the end of the year — the National Association of Realtors® has scaled back its projections for residential price growth for 2003. The trade group now believes that appreciation likely hit 8% for the year, as opposed to earlier estimates of 9.1%. As such, its previous calculation of $172,600 as the median price of an existing home in 2003 has been revised downward to $170,800. However, the growth from a median price of $158,100 in 2002 still reflects the biggest annual gain since appreciation surged 12% in 1980. The actual median U.S. home price for last year will be officially announced in an NAR report to be released on Feb. 25. (www.chicagotribune.com)
Chicago Tribune (01/11/04) P. 7F; Howley, Kathleen M.
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Be It Ever So Humble, It Deserves a Name
The practice of naming residential property, not uncommon in other countries, is beginning to take hold in the United States. The trend does not apply only to stately properties, either — even fairly uninspiring homes are being christened by their residents. While some owners create monikers based on a historical reference and developers might bestow a special name on a custom property as a marketing strategy, other names are simply the result of owners who fancy the idea of giving their homes a proper title. Although there is little evidence to support the claim, some say that names enhance the appeal — and possibly even the value — of luxury real estate. In some areas like Florida or New England, or any other area popular among the vacation-property crowd, realty agents have been known to list homes by name only, providing the sale price on request. "A high-sounding name hasn't anything to do with intrinsic value," however, explains Jared Edwards of SmithEdwards Architects in Hartford, CT. "It has to do with associated value." (www.usatoday.com)
USA Today (01/09/04) P. 7D; Cohen, Joyce
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Upwardly Mobile Homes
Pre-fabricated homes are considered by some to be the forefront of architectural design and by others to be just fancy mobile homes. Pre-fab dwellings are becoming more varied and ambitious and are attracting some big names among young architects as well as some established builders. Upscale designs now represent 10% of the $6.5 billion modular-home market, estimates industry consultant Fred Hallahan, up from just 2% a decade ago. Pre-fab houses can be styled in many ways; but the most popular, according to author Sarah Susanka, seem to be structures that refer to the high-tech building process with a minimalist aesthetic. Mass-produced residences have been around for a long time but have never really caught on; now, say pre-fab architects, things have changed. Pre-fab homes are faster to build and less expensive, and they have more designs and may appeal to upscale buyers. Most are not built until an order is placed, making it less expensive for an architect; and little on-site work is needed. (www.wsj.com)
Wall Street Journal (01/09/04) P. D1; Jeffrey, Nancy Ann; Keates, Nancy
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Retiring Close to Home
NAHB reports that more than 50% of the retirees who participated in a recent survey chose to live near their families, rather than escape to Florida or other traditional retirement havens. The group also found that three-quarters of respondents opted for maintenance-free living in a planned community. These developments typically feature pools, spas, television centers, computer and game rooms and spacious kitchens so retirees can gather with and entertain their families. (www.uniquehomes.com)
Unique Homes (01/04) Vol. 33, No. 1, P. 14; Giegerich, Arielle
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Software and the City
The most advanced city modeling and simulation software currently in existence is UrbanSim, developed by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle. The software's developers created UrbanSim to address some of the uncertainties and complexities that other urban modeling tools are ill-equipped to handle, such as the relationship between transportation and land use, the effects of public policies at the street level and discrepancies between the choices households are likely to make and the choices they actually make. One of the things UrbanSim project director Paul Waddell wanted the tool to provide was a level of resolution that could clearly simulate the land development process as it takes place on individual land parcels, comprising grid cells of 150 by 150 meters that detail local populations, housing, business and real estate prices; the UrbanSim model is also designed to present clear, explainable data with real-life representations of people, objects and actions. The software simulates four central agents — households, businesses, developers and governments — whose interactions are represented by land usage and development, which can be extrapolated for several decades because the agents make the same decisions on an annual basis. One of the chief values of UrbanSim is its potential to resolve disputes and promote consensual collaboration between the different people and advocacy groups involved in city planning. The fine-grained detail furnished by UrbanSim can be problematic: the bigger the city to be simulated, the more calculations needed to determine agents' choices. UrbanSim may also not be viable in many regions because available data is insufficient to provide the necessary level of detail. The UrbanSim project, which resides at the University of Washington's Center for Urban Simulation and Policy Analysis, has received over $5 million in funding from the National Science Foundation. (www.spectrum.ieee.org)
IEEE Spectrum (12/03) Guizzo, Erico
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Seven Steps to Success for Business
Office productivity can increase through small changes in the office; changes that can also promote better business results, say Xerox Corp. experts. These include protecting information through virus protection and operating system updates, securing confidential data on digital copiers and other devices, and possibly storing critical files in an off-site repository. Adding color to written materials can attract new customers and make an impression; reduce clutter by scanning papers into electronic files or e-mail. Upgrading technology for document handling can save money, and unreliable or outdated equipment can be replaced by more economical models. Web sites should have current information that is easy to navigate and print. Using energy-saving features and shutting things off at night can also save money. Xerox and the Information Work Productivity Council offer more information on increasing workplace productivity. (www.wilsoncountynews.com)
Wilson County News (Texas) Online (01/07/04)
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Computer Security Gets Tougher, More Urgent for Small Companies
Computer security can be a major challenge for small businesses because they generally lack the staff needed to handle viruses, hackers and other threats. They face the prospect of lost revenue and productivity if important files and systems cannot be maintained. Tech companies are responding by releasing a multitude of products for small businesses. An antivirus service from Network Associates, for instance, automatically downloads the updates necessary to ward off the newest viruses. Meanwhile, Cisco Systems has developed a firewall that protects against hackers, and Websense Inc. has rolled out new software that keeps employees off Web sites that could contain malicious programs. (www.wsj.com)
Wall Street Journal (01/20/04) P. B12; Richmond, Riva
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Cutting the Office Phone Cord
The new CS50 Wireless Office Headset System from Plantronics is a big improvement from old Plantronics headsets that had to be connected to phones with wires. The wireless headset system includes a hands-free headset, a base station where users can re-charge their headsets and an optional handset lifter. The $300 system offers users freedom from the previous restrictions of using a headset with an attached cord. Wireless-headset users are offered the same mobility as wireless phone users, but Plantronics' headset system offers up to 300 feet of range, in which users can wander without losing reception. Although the sound-quality of the headset is slightly worse than that of a regular phone, users say the wireless headsets have helped them improve their communications and productivity. (www.newsfactor.com)
Wireless Newsfactor (01/15/04) Shaw, Keith
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