Salim Khalil, CGP

SALIM I. KHALIL AWARDED

CERTIFIED GREEN PROFESSIONAL (CGP) DESIGNATION

Lexington SC, October 1, 2008 - Salim I. Khalil of Master Plan Homes Inc. recently became one of the select group of professional builders nationwide who have earned the Certified Green Professional (CGP) designation, identifying him as someone with knowledge of the best strategies for incorporating green building principals into homes.

The CGP program is administered by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) University of Housing and sponsored locally by the Greater Columbia Home Builders Association.

The CGP curriculum incorporates training by leading building industry practitioners and academics on a range of topics, including strategies for incorporating green-building principles into homes using cost-effective methods of construction, and how green homes provide buyers with lower maintenance and good indoor air quality. Techniques are also discussed for competitively differentiating your home products with increased indoor environmental quality as well as energy and resource efficiency.

First Time Home Buyer $7,500 Tax Credit

On July 26, 2008 Congress passed the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. A few days later President Bush signed it into law. One provision of this law includes a $7,500 tax "credit" to first time home buyers. This credit is good on homes purchased between April 9, 2008 and June 1, 2009.

$7,500

A few details about the law:

• The law defines "first time home buyer" as a buyer who has not owned a principal residence during the three-year period prior to the purchase.


• Single taxpayers with incomes up to $75,000 and married couples with incomes up to $150,000 qualify for the full tax credit.


• The tax credit works like an interest-free loan and must be repaid over a 15-year term or when they sell the house, if there is sufficient capital gain from the sale.


• The credit is refundable so it can be claimed even if the taxpayer has little or no federal income tax liability to offset.

After examining the details of this "credit", I feel that it's really nothing more than an interest free loan of $7,500 on a 15 year term. The only way you wouldn't be paying back the full $7,500 is if you sold the house within the 15 year term and did not have enough capital gains on it. At this point, the loan is forgiven.

For additional details, visit the Federal Housing Tax Credit web site

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Thanks For Stopping By

We get several visitors that stop by, or stumble upon, the Master Plan Homes Inc blog each day. Jon and I recently sent out a letter inviting several more to check things out. If you're here b/c of that letter, welcome! Thanks for taking a look and feel free to leave a comment. And if you have a new home construction related topic that you'd like to hear more about on this blog, email me.

On the right side of this blog you'll find a slideshow gallery of our pictures, a few useful links, this blog's archive, and a number of key word tags for this blog.

Here are a few of my favorite posts:

In The Field

Selecting a Lot to Build your Home

Picture It

Thanks again for stopping by. Bookmark this page and come back again!

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US Financial Crisis?

I've emailed a few friends today about this week's roller coaster ride known as Wall Street. It's been crazy to watch as large financial institutions have gone belly up and the government has stepped in with attempts at saving it. Meanwhile the media has been in a frenzy and has informed us that the sky is in fact falling. But just look at how the DOW has performed this week and you'll see it's actually trading higher than when the week began (as of 10:40am on Friday).

And do you think the current economy's condition has affected getting a mortgage here in the Columbia/Lexington area? Well, from what I'm hearing, not by a great extent. Some of their qualifications are a little tighter but if you are in a stable job with a good credit score you should be fine. I can refer you to someone locally if you'd like more information.

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Custom Spec in Park Ridge, Columbia NE

After about four and a half months, we are almost complete on a "custom spec" home we are building in the Park Ridge subdivision of Northeast Columbia. Park Ridge is located at Hope Road off of Polo Road and this house is at 245 Polo Hill Road.

This two story house is 2,752 square feet with 4 bedrooms and 3 baths. Two bedrooms are down stairs and two are up. The finished room over the garage could be a 5th bedroom. The home features hardwoods in main living areas, tile in baths and laundry room, granite tops in the kitchen and baths, pot filler over stove, wood-stained cabinets, stainless steel appliances, gas log fireplace, custom tile shower and surround of jacuzzi tub in master bath, irrigation & sod on the front, side, and rear of the home, etc.

If you or someone you know would be interested in purchasing this home, contact Don Keever at 803-319-1818.

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Green Building for Building Professionals

A few months ago I mentioned that I attended a green home seminar at the Home & Garden Show. Last week I was able to further my green building education by attending the NAHB (National Association of Home Builders) University "Green Building for Building Professionals".

The course was offered here in Columbia through our local Home Builders Association of Greater Columbia and was attended by both local and out-of-state professionals in the home building industry.

The instructor for the course was Tom Stephani of Custom Construction Concepts Inc. of Crystal Lake, IL.



The main topics of the course included building science principles, site development and design, building envelope and durability, resource efficiency, energy efficiency, water efficiency, indoor air quality, remodeling considerations, effective operation and homeowner education, & marketing and selling green. Each of these topics was discussed in detail. Here are a few highlights I noted:

• The "whole house" approach means every system must be considered in relation to every other system in a house to build an efficient, more comfortable, safer, and more sustainable home.


• Energy efficiency is one of the biggest components of green homes under the NAHB Green Home Building Guidelines. A third-party review plan is required during construction to verify design and compliance of the energy efficiency guidelines.


• The typical household spends over $1,500 per year on energy bills. ENERGY STAR appliances can help homeowners save up to 30%.

And speaking of ENERGY STAR, a few stats:

1. ENERGY STAR clothes washers use 50% less energy
2. ENERGY STAR does not label clothes dryers because most dryers use similar amounts of energy.
3. ENERGY STAR refrigerators use at least 20% less energy than required by current federal standards and 40% less energy than conventional models sold in 2001.
4. ENERGY STAR freezers use at least 20% less energy than required by current federal standards.
5. ENERGY STAR dishwashers use 25% less energy

Hosted by the Green Building Council of the Home Builders Association of Greater Columbia, the Green Building course provided me with another level of compentence within this growing field of the building industry.

You can contact me at 803-260-7546 or by email to find out more about green building in the Columbia & Lexington areas of South Carolina.

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In Home Intercoms

In home intercom systems have come along way. There are many varieties on the market with varied bells & whistles. No longer does the main station in the kitchen or master bedroom have to be over powering on the wall. Along with the improvements in technology, the price of in home intercom systems has also lowered over the years.

As is usually the case, a great time to wire for components such as an intercom is during new construction while all the walls are open and accessible. We have had the Greyfox (now OnQ/Legrand) intercom system installed in several of our houses. This system, like many today, uses Cat5 wiring from a structured wiring panel to each room that will have an intercom station. The room stations themselves are only the size of a two-switch panel. The main station is the size of a three-switch panel. These small sizes and the traditional looking face plates allow the intercom to blend well on the wall along with your other electrical switches.

One of the best features of this intercom system is the monitor which allows any room station to be monitored from the rest of the house. This is great for a baby's room, when someone is sick in bed, or even for an elderly person that is not easily mobile.

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