Green Day at the Parade

October 29th was Green Day at the Greater Columbia Parade of Homes at Saluda River Club. There were two presentations with Green Council Chairman Mark Bostic and program verifier Joseph Gilmore. I attended the first presentation before volunteering at the parade's ticket gate.

Mark shared how the NAHB's green program is comprised of seven areas based on a points system. Then Joe spent a good bit of time on the areas of energy efficiency and indoor air quality. Topics included radiant barrier roof sheathing, foam insulation, insulating the roof on an attic instead of the attic's floor, using low-VOC paints & carpets, Energy Star lighting & appliances, tankless hot water heaters, blower-door testing, etc.

Five of the six homes in the parade are seeking green certification under the locally adopted green program. If you are considering building a new home and would like to know more about what it takes to be "green", let me know and I'll be glad to share what I've learned about it this year.

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2008 Parade of Homes

Last night I had the opportunity of attending the Preview Party of the Parade of Homes at the Saluda River Club presented by the local HBA. The parade officially opens tomorrow and runs through November 2. There are six fully-furnished and decorated homes open for tours. As usual in a parade of homes, there were some "over the top" features including a water closet with its own tv and a dedicated massage room.

The Parade is a great place to get ideas on home layouts, built-in features, interior design, landscaping, etc. I was looking for more green building materials and practices (since 5 of the 6 homes were obtaining the local Green Council's certification) but they didn't appear to be blatantly spelled out. In a way, its a good thing for people to see that green built homes don't have to look odd or futuristic. However, I think it would have also been good to highlight what makes the homes green. To give the Parade credit, they are hosting a "Green Day at the Parade" on October 29 where they will be presenting the green features of the homes.

I hope you get the chance to attend the Parade of Homes this year. And feel free to share your comments about it here if you'd like. I'll be at the ticket gate on October 29 from 2:30 to 7:00pm so maybe I'll see you there!

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Are Columbia and Lexington banks still lending for new construction?

In light of the current national and global economic issues, there seems to be some confusion out there about whether or not banks are still lending money. To find an answer to this question for the Columbia and Lexington SC areas, I decided to ask my friend and associate Todd Mitcham at BB&T Mortgage. I found his response refreshing and contrary to much of what we're hearing in the media or on the national level. So I'd like to share what Todd said here:

"We are still lending money the same as we always have. On construction loans we still do 95% loans and we still base the value off of the appraised value and not the cost (so if it appraises for more than the cost as it often does we give the client "free" equity). So, nothing has
changed.

The problem is that I've got no one asking for any loans. It is not that we aren't loaning - it is that no one is borrowing. However, I wonder if no one is borrowing because they think we are not loaning."

And I am wondering the same thing. But if you've read this, you now know that there are banking institutions right here in the Columbia and Lexington SC area that are lending money for qualified borrowers. Todd Mitcham of BB&T Mortgage is one that I would recommend. He has been in the mortgage lending business since 1992 and he has provided great service to many of our custom home clients. Todd can be reached at 803-251-1404 or by email.

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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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