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Did You Know…

Did You Know . . . that Heritage Homes has designed an “Idea Home” which will be open during the Parade of Homes?  Come and see the affordable “ideas” we have to make your life easier at 255 47th Ave. West in West Fargo.  Do you have a pet? Do you enjoy gardening? Are you a frequent traveler? Are you “going green”? Do you have a niche for baking? Do you love unique storage ideas? …Answer yes to any of the prior questions? Then, you’ll LOVE this home! The Spring Parade of Homes runs April 28 through May 6.

Did You Know . . . that Heritage Homes employees will be running during the 2012 Fargo Marathon? Can you guess who? Check back next week to find out who’s running and how far! In addition, our sister company, Prudential Premier Real Estate, will be the host of 2 aid stations during the Marathon. If you’re running or cheering from the sidelines, look for the blue shirts!

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Did You Know…

Did You Know . . . That Heritage Homes is engaging in “Framing Wars” this spring?  That’s right.  Curt Kellen Construction and Bruce Lemon Construction are framing Heritage homes on the same street vying to see who can be the first to complete the job.    Waay to go guys!!!  Our very own Stephanie Lindeman, Construction Superintendant for Heritage Homes, is there to ensure that everyone follows Heritage Homes strict guidelines on Quality.

Did You Know . . . That Paul Foresman, a national trainer with Design Basics, is here this week to work with Heritage Homes team members on Woman Centric?  Heritage Homes is the only Woman Centric certified builder in our area and we are continually educating our team members.  Come out to one of our Open Houses and check out the difference Woman Centric can make!

Did You Know . . . That according to the National Association of Homebuilders, the average list of items still to be completed at a new construction home closing is 70 items?  Heritage Homes list is 3-4 and getting smaller every day!  This efficiency is thanks to our great construction team, our trade partners and our homecare department.  We sure have a great team!

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Happy New Year!

Consider 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!

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The Most Popular Plans of 2011

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.

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North Dakota Boosts Lowest Down Payment Averages

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!

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What To Do With The ‘Extra’ Bedroom?

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.

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Home Tip of the Month By Heritage Homes

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.

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Great News: Loan Limits Have Been Restored!

Written By: Tyrone, President and Co-Owner of Heritage Homes

We have great news to share with you! Last week, Congress voted to restore loan limits and the maximum cap for Federal Housing Authority (FHA) loans. Their action reinstates the loan limit of 125 percent of area median price, up to $729,750. Higher loan limits will make mortgages more accessible—in fact, nearly two-thirds of buyers who will be helped by the loan limits extension have income below $100,000.
Check out this link for more information: http://bit.ly/loanstheskysthelimit

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Our Gift To You

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!

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The Design Meeting: What’s It All About?

Written By: Eric, New Home Designer at Heritage Homes

Part of the Heritage Homes process is the Design Meeting. The Design Meeting is a meeting between the future homeowners and the New Home Designer. It is a time for the homeowners to talk about their wants and needs and for the designer, myself, to design the house specifically around them. I take into account the lifestyle and dynamic of the family and give them ideas that they hadn’t previously thought about. For example, if working with a family with 3 kids and a busy lifestyle, I might suggest adding a drop-zone and lockers to organize backpacks, coats, or boots, to make life just a little easier for Mom. I might also suggest rearrange rooms to allow for walk-in closets or additional storage. For the guy with everything and nowhere to put it, I would suggest adding to the garage to fit the work bench or motorcycle or lawnmower, and still allow for plenty of room to park vehicles. For the avid entertainers, I can situate the kitchen to allow for added seating or finish the lower level with enough room to watch the big game or movie. Have you always wanted a bigger pantry or a decked-out bathroom, or an area that could be a sunroom, but over the Thanksgiving holiday, when you have 20 people in your house, it also works as an addition to the dining room. Whatever ideas you may have, I can usually find a way to make it work. We don’t build a house and put you in it; we build a house around you.


I can then take these ideas, and I can show you your home in 3D so that it can be visualized before its even built. Most people I show this to are awed by the fact that they can virtually walk into and though their new home. I can show an overview of each floor, show it from the outside at any angle, or even from a single room at a time. I have seen many times where during the walk-through of their homes for the first time, even in the virtual sense, gives a family the feeling of pride in their home and a reassurance that Heritage Homes will not only build what they had in mind, but even better.

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