OlderConsider it our gift to you in the new year – FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY – receive up to $10,000 in personalized selections with your new home purchase! Happy New Year from your Heritage Homes team!
Written By: Eric, New Home Designer at Heritage Homes
There were many popular plans of 2011. The most popular plan was one of our Advantage Series ramblers named the “Montclair” (Pictured). This plan came to be by combining 2 of last year’s most popular plans, the “Castlewood”, and the “Victoria”. It even had the working name of the “Castletoria” for a short time, but the name didn’t stick. This plan was well-liked because the layout offers a centralized open great room which includes the kitchen, dining, and living area. It also offers a separated master from the secondary bedrooms, which gives the master suite privacy and seclusion while utilizing the main bath for the entire main floor, as well as being conveniently located between the other 2 bedrooms. With all of these amenities, the other thing customers remember about the Montclair is the rear foyer. It offers an area for a drop-zone, a coat closet and the main floor laundry room, all conveniently located right off the garage. The lower level is very open with a very large family room, 2 bedrooms, a bedroom and lots of storage. All of these things combined and a reasonable square footage and base price made this the most popular plan of 2011.
Holding strong in second place was one of our Premier Series ramblers, the “Crestwood”. This has always been a strong plan because of its flexibility and curb appeal. The large rear foyer walks you right into the kitchen, which is part of a very large open great room area. With all the bedrooms on one side of the home, it keeps the living area separated from the sleeping areas without being too far away. The flexible floor plan offers many customizations of ceilings, room sizes, bathrooms and even front elevations. The lower level features 2 more bedrooms, a bath, an enormous storage/mechanical room and a large family room perfect for entertaining. With all of these things and more, I think this plan will stay popular into the future.
Coming on strong towards the end of the year was one of our Advantage Series 2 stories, the “Georgetown”. It includes a rear foyer with a large walk-in closet, a large kitchen, and an open great room area. There is even a flex room near the front foyer, adjacent to the great room that could be a den, an office or even just more living space. Upstairs is where the Georgetown takes it to a new level. The master suite has 2 walk-in closets and a very large bathroom with dual sinks and a toilet room. There are also 3 more bedrooms, all with walk-in closets, plus, a compartmented bath also with dual sinks. If that isn’t enough, the laundry room is conveniently located upstairs also. With growing popularity, this could be next year’s #1.
No matter which plan we build the most, the thing to remember is that even if these 3 plans don’t fit you and your family, we have many other plans to offer and can customize any of them to meet your needs and to be the home you’ve always dreamed of.
Written By: Tyrone, President and Co-Owner of Heritage Homes
I was just reading an article that I found to be very captivating in regards to down payments on residential homes. I found it very interesting considering the nation and looking locally at North Dakota. North Dakota is state with the lowest average for down payment, this is, I truly believe, due to our stable market and banks that are willing to loan money – not to mention if you are a first-time buyer you can, of course, put down far less and get into your home and start building wealth while living the American dream! Read on for what the article said.
With the housing market continuing to struggle and fewer consumers being able to purchase a new home or apartment, LendingTree.com released data [http://marketing.lendingtree.com/pr/down_payments_by_state.pdf] highlighting the average down payments on residential real estate purchases for all 50 states and Washington, D.C. New Jersey tops the list with the highest average down payment of 13.71%. The state with the lowest average down payment is North Dakota, where buyers put down an average of 11.34%.
The locations rounding out the Top Five for highest down payments include Washington D.C. (13.5%), New York (13.47%), Hawaii (13.33%) and California (13.22%). The states completing the bottom five are North Dakota (11.34%), Wyoming (11.38%), Oklahoma (11.62%), Tennessee (11.7%) and Iowa (11.71%). Overall, the average down payment for all states is 12.29%. What great news for our area!
Written By: Nicole, Customer Care Manager at Heritage Homes
Most of us have an ‘extra’ bedroom in our homes. We keep this ‘extra’ bedroom for when those friends and/or family members come to visit. Sometimes those visits can be few and far between and this ‘extra’ bedroom becomes an un-used room in your home while other areas of the home are getting over-crowded. Kids can always have a camp out in the living room when guests come to visit – leaving having your kids bedrooms for the few times that the guests do come and stay overnight. Below are some ideas to make that ‘extra’ room in your more useful for one, two or all of you in the family.
1. Playroom: Keep the kids rooms clean by having their trucks and dolls in their own play room. Having a play room makes it a “fun” place for kids to go and play and keep their toys in one area of the home and make more room in their bedroom. Fun ideas are to paint one of the walls with black chalkboard paint, magnetic paint, or better yet – half and half! Over the years, this room can then grow into being the teenage hangout- a place outside of their room to hang out with friends and not having to be in the living room with their parents.
2. No kids or kids that are grown, but you are a kid at heart? Make it your studio/storage room. A place for your crafts, painting, instuments, Maybe the room is divided with gift wrapping room, scrap booking, crafts on one side and then a place outside of the cold garage for all his hunting/sports items with extra shelving, cabinets or wall units made for storage. Makes it a well organized and labeled area and much more accessible and resourceful.
3. Home Theatre: want the living room to be just a visiting room, then move that TV into that ‘extra’ bedroom and make it your own home theatre. Have fun with placing theatre chairs into the room, bar area with a mini fridge for your sodas, and possibly a microwave for popping popcorn so you don’t have to go to the kitchen,
4, Office: one of the most common things to do with the ‘extra’ bedroom is an office area. If you have kids that have homework, incorporate a desk in this area so they have a place to concentrate as well, instead having all the distractions at the kitchen table and/or their own bedroom.
5. Fitness Room: great place for the weights, treadmill and stationary bike. Add a TV into the room and a large mirror on one of the walls and your have your own gym right in your home.
6. Media/Game Room: a great place for the Wii or XBox to be at and keeping the mess and noise out of your living/family room. Have a futon be one of the pieces of furniture and still makes for an ‘extra’ bed in the home. Place a shelving unit for all the games and a small table in the room with 4 chairs around it as an area always ready to play board games or a card game is a great addition.
7. Is the ‘extra’ bedroom near the master bedroom? Turn it into HER dressing room. Have wooden shelivng around a portion of the perimeter of the room for the folded clothes, add some rods, a place for HER to get ready at (vanity area) and a mannequin in the room to help with deciding on outfits. A large enough place for the steamer and/or ironing table to be in its own place and always ready to go and don’t forget an oversized mirror and a lounge chair. Having this dressing room for HER just made the man of the house have the largest closet they would ever have as well: the entire master bedroom closet!
These are just a few ideas to do with that ‘extra’ bedroom. Tweak and make them your own and what works best for you and your family. As mentioned above, futons incorporated into any of the above rooms still gives a place for guests to sleep and don’t forget about the good ole murphy beds – there are quality murphy beds to look into as well. Enjoy the endless possibilities with your ‘extra’ bedroom.
Written By: Nicole, Customer Care Manager at Heritage Homes
‘Tis the season with the excitement of kids in the house and counting down the days until Christmas! There is always the “typical” countdown calendars with the chocolates behind each day. Instead of purchasing one, have some fun and make a countdown to Christmas as a craft activity with your kids.
Here are a couple of fun ideas that my girls and I have done over the years….
Sweet Garland Countdown…..this was yet another idea that I got from the Family Fun magazine – January 2008 issue. This is a nice & simple activity to get the kids excited for the holidays and a way to decorate the tree as well. The fun with this is that it is an edible garland for the tree. The garland is made with the candy button sheets that you can buy in the baking aisle of the grocery store and then cut them into strips. Form the strips into circles, and then tape them together in a chain. They make for a very colorful garland for the tree (sometimes we put the garland in other areas of the home instead of the tree). Then each day starting December 1st, you just cut off a loop from the garland – enjoy the candy buttons and you are one more day closer to Santa Claus coming!
12 Days of Christmas Garland…….this is a garland that is full of surprises. Fun to make with your kids, but yet an activity for them to look forward to as you count down the 12 days of Christmas. Take a 6ft piece of evergreen and place in the home somewhere on a ledge, fireplace mantle, etc…. Cut (3) pieces of green & (3) pieces of red card stock in half, the long way, to create 12 pieces. Fold each piece, overlappying the top over the bottom to create a “countdown card’. Write a surprise inside each card – directions to a treasure hunt for a small toy or candy, a holiday joke, or a treat like going out to dinner or staying up late to watch a family movie with popcorn. Then seal the cards with holiday stickers, alternate the red & green cards, number the outsides, punch holes in the tops and use small pieces of holiday curling ribbon to attach them all to the evergreen garland. This is a very FUN way to build the excitement for Christmas with the kids at home and a great way to make family memories……Happy Holdiays!
Written By: Nathan, Project Manager at Heritage Homes
Just because it is has not snowed yet does not mean that winter is not here. I know it is really nice not to have the snow on the ground (thank you, Old Man Winter), but the cold temperatures have come and will not leave until spring. And when the temperature starts to fall, that only means one thing: we need our furnaces. This brings to mind a good home tip of the month. Do you have trouble changing out your furnace filter? Most of the time it is in a hard place to get to and the slot is tight to begin with. If you take two small pieces of duct tape (about 3” long) and make a small handle on top of the filter at each end, it will allow you to pull out the furnace filter with ease. As a good rule of thumb, experts recommend that you change out your furnace filter about once a month. You also want to make sure the filter is following the right direction of air flow and that you are using the correct filter size. Consult your owner’s manual if you have any questions or you are looking for information about your furnace.
Written By: Megan, Marketing Director at Heritage Homes
Excited to eat your weight in turkey, stuffing and anything pumpkin? I sure am. There’s nothing better than the Big 3: Food, Family and Football. What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions?
At Heritage Homes, we know you can’t put a price on protecting your family. Now, through December 20, 2011, we’re including our Safe & Secure Package – a home security system – with each Heritage Homes new home purchase made. Consider it our gift to you this holiday season!
Written By: Nicole, Customer Care Manager at Heritage Homes
When my girls were younger and I was preparing Thanksgiving dinner, they were always at my ankles and/or needing my attention elsewhere in the house than in the kitchen where I needed to be. As they got older, I decided that I needed to include them in the kitchen and preparing for the family to arrive for dinner.
Since the main course of the turkey goes in so early, I decided to get the girls involved in the kitchen and start our own memories of Thanksgiving in the kitchen.
I did some research on the internet and a great magazine to help you and your kids start some family traditions is Family Fun. The November 2003 issue of Family Fun is where we received the ideas to start the traditions that we now have each Thanksgiving Day.
Besides helping getting everything ready for the baking of the pies, chopping of the items for the stuffing, etc, first on their list is to get the place cards ready for each person coming to dinner that year. They go through my “extra” pictures of the year, and/or print them off from my camera and cut the heads out of the picture of everyone who is attending. They then glue the cut outs on folded place card. Then each person is decorated as either a pilgrim with a black construction paper cut to be a pilgrim hat and glued to the top of their head or yellow and orange paper cut out to resemble turkey feathers and glued around the photo to resemble a turkey. The cards are then placed at the table for where everyone is to sit and this always gets some laughs started.
Next, we make cupcakes and decorate them with candy corn on top to make it look like a turkey. To make eating the cupcakes that much more exciting….we hide (1) quarter in (4) of the cupcakes. Whomever the lucky guest is that gets the quarter, gets a special prize from my daughters (a goodie bag of caramel popcorn with candy corn mixed in) to make for a festive treat bag to take home.
Edible table/plate décor that they love to help with is the “pilgrim hats”. The making of this usually causes a lot of chocolate everywhere in the kitchen, but better yet, it is great to hear the giggles from the girls as they have fun making the hats. It is as simple as a fudge stripe cookie, large marshmallow dipped into a chocolate coating and then placed on top of the cookie and complete it with a making a box on the marshmallow with white icing – completing the look of the hat. They then place two of these on each plate on the table…..giving the table some spark and a fun snack for people to nibble on before the turkey arrives…..who said you cannot have dessert first?! Happy Thanksgiving!
