Luxury Trends: Hungry for Convenience? Get a Kitchen in a Bedroom
The latest amenity for owners of 10,000- to 12,000-square-foot homes who have a craving for a Perrier at 2 a.m. is the master bedroom kitchen, according to Rick Goodwin, publisher of Unique Homes magazine. Sometimes called morning bars, breakfast bars or coffee bars, the mini-kitchens can range from an alcove with a small fridge to an elaborate room complete with wine storage. Although NAHB has no data on bedroom kitchens, it reports that the number of two-kitchen houses is on the rise, although the extra kitchen is usually in the basement or outdoors. In a two-year-old survey by Unique Homes and the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing of owners of homes valued at more than $2.5 million, 11% of those responding said they had mini-kitchens in their master-bedroom suites. (www.usatoday.com)
USA Today (2/18/05); Maria Puente
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Local Contractors, Anticipating Needs of an Aging Population, Learn to Modify Homes for Seniors
About a dozen local contractors spent three days taking classes through the Arrowhead Builders Association in Minnesota to earn NAHB’s Certified Aging in Place designation for expertise in modifying homes to help older people live independently and safely in their own homes. Among problems confronting builders in this fastest-growing segment of the remodeling industry, says Mike Weiss, an NAHB instructor, is finding ways to minimize background noise for people who are losing their hearing. “Each person’s needs are individual, and solving them requires an individualized approach,” he says. Properly directed, adequate lighting can help people with visual problems. Natural gas and smoke detectors can be installed to help people with a reduced sense of smell. Efficient hearing and cooling can help older people whose body temperature is not easily regulated. Other solutions require major projects, such as modifying counter height in the kitchen, building a wheel-chair-accessible bathroom or constructing an elevator. (www.duluthsuperior.com)
Duluth News-Tribune (2/25/05); Jane Brissett
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Peak Attraction; Second Homes at Ski Resorts Provide Opportunity for Fun, Investment
With the baby boom generation now in its peak home buying years, “The real estate boom has touched second homes in a very, very big way,” says National Association of Realtors® (NAR) Chief Economist David Lereah. The typical second-home owner is 55 to 64 years old, according to Gopal Ahluwalia, director of research at NAHB. “As age rises, so do the chances of having a second home,” he says. “After 65, it slows down.” Also fueling the second home market is the escalation of primary home values, which is giving buyers more access to money than they used to have. In 2003, NAR estimated that there were 6.6 million second homes in the country and that they were responsible for 5%-6% of total home sales. A new report from the association next month will show that the number is much higher. (www.washingtonpost.com)
Washington Post (2/19/05); Daniela Deane
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Overcoming Home Buyer Selling Tactics — Common Signals Hint at Intent to Purchase
Sales agents, especially inexperienced ones, miss out on the opportunity to close the deal because they don’t recognize the signals that indicate when a prospect should be asked if they want to buy the house, according to Howard Brinton, a real estate sales motivational speaker. Common buying signals include lingering on the property, sitting down on the furniture, choosing children’s bedrooms, discussing where the furniture will go, discussing changes to paint or carpeting colors, taking notes or measurements, becoming protective toward the house or the yard and using the word “when” instead of “if.” Buyers who procrastinate should be advised by the agent that the house might not be available by the time they finally decide it is what they’re looking for. (www.inman.com)
Inman News (2/22/05); Howard Brinton
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House Giveaways Are Popular, But It Seems the Houses Aren’t
Days before the contest deadline, viewer participation in this year’s $1 million HGTV “Dream Home Giveaway” for a lakefront mini-mansion near Tyler, Texas, was running about 8% ahead of last year’s contest, and 39 million entries were expected. However, only one winner in the nine-year-old series has kept the house. For one thing, the local property taxes alone on the fully furnished $1.5 million Texas house are $20,000-$30,000. And the Internal Revenue Service requires the winnings to be reported as income on Form 1040, Line 21. The previous winner of a mountain lodge in Wyoming got a $250,000 tax bill but was able to sell the place for $668,000. Recognizing the tax realities, the Naperville, Ill., Rotary this year is selling $100 chances for a $1 million home that can be built anywhere by a member of NAHB, but the winner will be given the option of taking $800,000 in cash. (www.chicagotribune.com)
Chicago Tribune (2/20/05); Mary Umburger
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Elevator Business Going Up
Increasing their annual sales from $60,000 in 2002 when they went into business to more than $1 million last year, Mike and Lisa Koch, co-owners of Koch Elevator Co., say that elevators are becoming the hottest upgrade in luxury residences. Home elevator sales doubled between 1998 and 2003, according to NAHB. Part of the growing popularity of the elevators stems from the larger square footage and increased technology that are commonplace in upscale homes; more three-story homes are being built to accommodate baby boomers who want bigger houses but smaller yards. Elevators also provide a solution for elderly residents who are facing mobility issues. The cost of a home elevator has remained around $18,000 for the past 20 years, but today’s models are quieter, faster, more reliable and more efficient. For those on a tighter budget, stairchairs, which attach to a staircase banister, start at about $4,000. (www.rgj.com)
Reno Gazette-Journal (2/19/05); Jeanne Lauf Walpole
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Gas Vs. Wood
At least 640,000 of the nearly 1.1 million homes built last year — or 59% of the market — feature a fireplace, according to NAHB. That’s up from 58% of the market in 2002 and 35% in 1970. While many die-hard home owners say it’s hard to beat a wood-burning fireplace, improved gas products have enjoyed growing popularity. Gene Kanode, owner of Kanode’s Hearth Shop in Salem, Va., says he is a big fan of direct-vent fireplaces, which are highly efficient and give off a lot of heat, but emit less odor and don’t allow contaminants into the home. But they have a sealed front, such as a glass door, that makes the fire less accessible. They can be used 24 hours a day and as a main source of heat, and cost $2,000 and up. Despite the benefits of direct-vent fireplaces, Al Silverstein, owner of Dixie Products in Roanoke, Va., says that ventless products account for about 80% of his gas fireplace sales. They’re much cheaper and easy to install, although they are not meant to be used as a primary heating source. (www.roanoke.com)
Roanoke Times & World News (2/18/05); Elizabeth Hock
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Developer Uses Unusual Amenities to Lure Tenants to Upscale Apartments
With apartment vacancy rates running 10%-12% in central Ohio, double the rate of the mid-1990s, developer Peter Edwards has built an unusual clubhouse for tenants of his six upscale apartment complexes, where rents range from $625 to $1,600. Built at a cost of $3 million, Edwards' red-and-white, 13,000-square-foot barn contains a fitness center, a fancy pool and a bar that’s staffed five nights a week. The structure features interior paneling salvaged from a nearby barn, support posts from another barn built in 1834, a bar top made from walnut, several pieces of leather furniture, old flags that once flew in Paris, a 19th-century table that was once used in an English monastery, slate roof tiles salvaged from an old roof and an antique clock face from a small French town. Company officials think the concept is working. Occupancy in the apartments closest to the clubhouse rose from the mid-80% range to 96% last year after the property opened in May. (www.dispatch.com)
Columbus Dispatch, Ohio (2/25/05); Mike Pramik
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Quarry Doesn’t Dig Development
In a reversal of the situation in which home owners complain about proposed commercial or industrial development, the owner of the Halquist Stone quarry in Lannon, Wis., is objecting to a $30 million development of 220 condominiums and apartment units because he is worried that the new residents will complain about noise and dust from his processing plant. “It’s really a question of who was there first,” says David Crump, the director of legal research for NAHB. “If the use that’s going in right next door is not compatible with what you’re doing, obviously the people who were there first want to keep them out.” Jerry Deschane, the deputy executive vice president of the Wisconsin Builders Association, said he’s never heard of any instances in Wisconsin of a quarry or similar industrial site objecting to a nearby residential development. (www.jsonline.com)
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (2/24/05); Reid J. Epstein
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Bids Are Busting Budgets
In the San Diego area, officials who oversee city, county and school construction projects are experiencing sticker shock and bids are coming in higher than estimates. Compared to the 2%-4% increases in construction costs that were typical in recent years, the last two years have seen significant increases in nearly everything needed to build a building — steel, drywall, wood and cement. In San Diego County, the price of plywood jumped 67% and steel rebar increased 33% from 2003 to 2004, according to Marshall & Swift/Boeckh, a Los Angeles company that tracks building costs for the appraisal and insurance industries. Factors behind the rising materials prices include a development surge in China that created a worldwide steel shortage, post-hurricane rebuilding efforts in Florida, California’s home building boom and rising petroleum prices that have pushed up manufacturing costs, particularly for asphalt shingles. Construction bids received by the city of San Diego since 2003 for some of its library and fire station projects exceeded estimates by 20%-30%, sending officials scrambling to find additional money to cover the increase. “We’ve had construction escalations before,” said Bruce Herring, San Diego’s deputy manager who has worked for the city for 30 years. “But I think this is the most severe we’ve seen in a short period of time that I can remember.” (www.signonsandiego.com)
San Diego Union-Tribune (2/21/05); Karen Kucher
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Massachusetts Sees $50 Million to Help Nonprofits Buy Church Sites
The Massachusetts Housing Investment Corp. and six other institutions will be making $50 million in financing available to help nonprofit community groups purchase and redevelop properties closed by the Boston Archdiocese. Bidding has already ended on 16 properties shuttered by the archdiocese, including those in Waltham, Salem and Lowell. The money will help member organizations of the Massachusetts Association of Community Development Corporations compete with private developers to buy closed church properties, according to Maureen Flynn, the association’s deputy director. In the next round of properties to become available in April, Richard Thai, executive director of the Jamaica Plain Neighborhood Development Corporation, said that he hopes to use some of the money to bid on the local Blessed Sacrament church, which has been a mainstay of the community for 100 years and many want to see turned into affordable housing. (www.boston.com)
Boston Globe (2/22/05); Thomas C. Palmer Jr.
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Bats Infest Apartments
Bats have been scaring residents of Yamacraw Village in the Savannah, Ga., area and swarming into a handful of their apartments after being ousted from attics by the city’s housing authority. “They’ve designed a system that allows the bats to come out of the attic, where they’ve lived for some 40 years, and not allow them back in,” explained Sandy Glicken of the housing authority. “So what’s happening is you have bats that don’t know where they should go.” The health department says that bats usually aren’t a danger to people. Most bats don’t carry rabies, and they generally stay away from people. But in close quarters, it can be different. “Out in the open, it’s usually not a risk,” said Dr. Diane Weems. “It becomes a risk when they are in residential places in rooms where people are staying.” She says that bats’ teeth are so small that you may not even know it when one bites you, and advises locals to call poison control if they wake up with a bat in the room. The housing authority has responded by putting new screens on doors that had holes in them. (www.wtoctv)
WTOC, Savannah, Ga. (2/23-24/05)
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