Archive for the ‘House Construction’ Category

New house construction should follow strict guidelines. If you are planning to build a new house, you should never forget all the important things that would make sure you would have a successful house building.

Here are five important steps for you:

1. Budget. Start to think about your budget and prepare. Plan everything according to a working budget that you know you would be able to afford. Most likely, you would get a construction loan and also, a home mortgage. With this, it is important that you find out what kind of loan you should fall under. Also, evaluate the materials and the cost it would take to build the kind of home that you want. You can get building cost estimators to help you in doing this.
2. Select your lot. This goes before anything else, like floor plans and other details. Hire a professional to help you choose a lot. Evaluate according to the condition of the soil, drainage, building codes and zoning.
3. Get your team. Now it is time to hire more professionals to help you in your house construction. Get a team of designers, construction workers, and other important people. Key people would be an excavator, a builder, a surveyor and an architect or a designer. A lot of homeowners start with getting the home builder. They would most likely know who to choose for your other experts. However, if you have a personal choice for the architect or designer, then it’s fine.
4. Get a plan. A lot of new house are built through stock plans in catalogs. Your builder or designer may make some modifications in sizes of the rooms and other details, according to your preferences as well. A lot of times, a new house that is custom-built would require the need for a licensed architect. It is important to think of your needs in the coming years as you choose your design.
5. Negotiate. Make sure that you have a written contract for your new house construction. It should be signed and dated both by your builder or contractor, and also your architect and designer. Your contract would describe the whole new house construction project for your house, including details and a list of all the parts that would be included in your house. Make sure that you make necessary amendments in your contract if you need to make changes in the project.

House construction continues to see hope for its future as the index rose by two points just this month. According to data from the National Association of Home Builders and the Wells Fargo Housing market Index, the confidence in home builders has reached its highest point since September 2008. This is a second improvement of the house construction industry that happened in two consecutive months.

According to Joe Robson, Chairman of the NAHB, home builders are now responding to this and saying that this is a good time for the industry as a whole. Home mortgage rates are very favorable for those who want to buy their first house, and it fares well for the construction industry as well. Factors that contribute to this favorable market condition are the affordable house prices, a wide choice of house units and a credit of $8,000 for first time home buyers.

According to David Crowe, NAHB’s chief economist, this increase signals the improvement of the construction industry that is expected to go on in the future. Crowe further adds that the announcements of the Department of Housing and Urban Development to give $8,000 tax credit for new home buyers is encouraging to home buyers.

The NAHB has been gathering data for more than 20 years now. According to the builder index, sales and predictions can be made for the coming six months and are evaluated as good, fair or poor. Home builders are also asked to rate the sales activities as high average or low. The scores are then integrated and calculated for results. A number that is over 50 means that the industry generally sees the market as “good”.

In the last survey, house construction players saw more positivity in the market as two of three components in the HMI rose in May. The index that measures current sales rose by two points to 14. ON the other hand, the index that measures sales expectations in the next six months increased by 3 points to 27. Lastly, the index that measures the traffic for prospective buyers stayed at 13.

The house construction industry continues to improve as they see improvements in the economy as a whole. More Americans are now getting more confident to spend their money and invest them in properties.

The National Association of Homebuilders expressed that companies involved in new house construction have more confidence now than in the past months. However, last Tuesday, the Commerce Department released data that shows new house construction decreased to a record low.

Home builders are now in a very difficult situation. In any type of house, whether it is an apartment or a single-family home, there seems to be very little hope. This was even more evident as home builders convened last Wednesday in the Home Builders Association of Greater Cleveland annual meeting. This event was aimed at answering answers and addressing issues regarding house construction. Particularly voiced are the frustrations of home builders towards banks who deny the request of companies for loans.

Present in the meeting to represent the Fed are Emre Ergungor and Paul Kaboth, a senior research economist and an assistant vice president in banking supervision, respectively. Ergungor addressed the issues concerning the housing market in view of the larger economy.

On the other hand, Kaboth explained issues regarding the Fed’s methods on examining bank loans and assigning values from 1 to 5 to financial institutions. The values represent the stability of a bank. 1 means that a bank is still sound, while the value 5 means that the bank is already endangered and might fail in the near future. With this, he said that the Fed would give necessary help to banks who are already in danger.

A lot of home builders reacted with anger and frustration, as they see their industry to be on the way to collapse soon. According to Pat Perrino, a business owner of construction, suppliers are now down to working for a mere two to three days a week. His business has gradually slowed down, and he says that he does not see anything which could improve the way things are going now.

A lot of home builders have the same sentiments as Perrino, saying that they need more regulators to work with financial institutions in order for them to be able to get their businesses back on track. The problem seems to be more than getting land, constructing houses and developing them. Home builders said that existing credit lines and loans need to be addressed for the new house construction industry to bounce back again and recover completely.

As the economy worsens, the people learn to cope. Lifestyles are changing and are well adapting to these changes in our finances. In the housing industry, more and more are seeing the difficulties, both on the end of the buyers and homeowners, as well as on the end of companies. To cope, new house construction […]

Home builders have probably started on more houses last April, after the US economic outlook increased for the first time in a long time. This is a clear sign that the dust is already settling, and that the recession is already abating. This insight was given by economists last week. House construction has risen by […]

House construction around the country has been stagnant the past months. This has resulted to a lot of disadvantages, including job loss. Banks are cutting off on loans, home builders are selling off projects, and homebuyers are on the sidelines. However, experts and even home builders are not entirely discouraged. According to them, this situation […]

New house construction is expected to improve with the move of home builders around the country to turn renters into buyers of homes. By gathering contact information of renters across different areas, they attract renters through different marketing strategies. According to Dan Klinger, K. Hovnanian American Mortgage president, construction companies are going back to basics […]

The economic crisis has gotten from bad to worse in the past weeks. According to Ivy Zelman, the CEO of Zelman & Associates, the current financial situation right now have actually been worse than what people have imagined. With this, the house construction industry has been taking defensive measures to keep their profits coming. Some […]

House construction continues to attract more and more buyers, as the industry sees new hopes in the past weeks. Now, a lot of companies are giving incentives to buyers, resulting to better sales. Now, buyers can start their house construction even if they are not sure of what their future could bring them. House construction […]

New house construction for Americans aged 55 and above has recently dropped by 50 percent. This data was released by the National Association of Home Builders on Tuesday, adding that only 126,000 new houses are set for construction this year. This was half of the 249,000 houses last year. Next year, however, house construction for […]