In Ideal Homes’ communities as well as other new home communities in the Oklahoma City Metro area there has not been any need to address hazardous icy driveways, sidewalks or porches this winter season. When the next big snow or ice storm hits, be sure to follow Chad Tolle’s, our Director of Customer Care, advice regarding the removal of packed snow and ice covering:

Avoid salt and chemicals when deicing porches, sidewalks and driveways. This includes Calcium chloride, Magnesium chloride, Deicing fluid and all other associated chemicals. These chemicals can penetrate, corrode and disintegrate concrete.

Rock salt (Sodium choloride) releases the highest amount of Chloride ions when it dissolves. These ions can pollute water supplies such as rivers, streams and lakes. They can also corrode metals on your vehicles and prove to be skin irritants. Imagine the damage caused to new landscaping and sod.

Tolle recommends evade all use of chemicals and take an alternative method of using sand. Sand acts as a traction assist and not as an actual deicer. Look for sand that has less dust content to ensure respiratory irritants are not later released into the air through the dust. Use minimal amounts so as not to cause clogging issues with drainage and sewer systems.

For more alternatives check out these Eco Friendly Deicing Options. You may want to contact our Customer Care team prior to using one of the listed options.

Check out our last blog post about avoiding frozen pipes.  If you have tidbits of advice you would like to share, email kboone@ideal-homes.com.

Visit Ideal Homes to learn more about our company, products and communities.

Ideal Homes takes a proactive approach to deter potential home ownership mishaps. Even addressing issues before they happen leaves room for error. Our warranties help eliminate financial burdens that may arise in the event something does go awry.

Our Customer Care Team visits our home owners at 60 days and eleven months after residing in the home. This is to address anything which can be covered under our one-year builder warranty & to ensure all expectations are met.

One thing which helps home owners avoid unnecessary mishaps is education. Frozen pipes can plague even the most savvy home owner.

Tolle states the following in regards to avoiding this cold and costly issue:

Unhook hoses or any applications to exterior faucets during below freezing temperatures.  These can hold water in the faucets causing it to break inside the wall. (See the faucet image.) The next time the exterior faucet is used, water may leak into the wall due to the break. Exterior faucets affected by freeze breaks are not covered under warranty and may become a costly repair expense.

When temperatures drop to freezing level ensure avoidance of frozen interior pipes by leaving a steady drip in water through faucets most affected by the decreased temperature. It is also helpful to open cabinets and circulate the warmer air to keep the pipes warmer. If the air is still too cold, caulk and seal any openings near the pipes.

Check out our last blog post about year round lawn health.  If you have tidbits of advice you would like to share, email kboone@ideal-homes.com.

Visit Ideal Homes to learn more about our company, products and communities.

New home buyers considering Norman, Oklahoma, enjoy a satisfying variety of choices with Ideal Homes. Trail Woods is one of the company’s five new home communities built in Oklahoma’s third largest city, which is also home to the University of Oklahoma.

Situated in the NE part of Norman off Rock Creek Road between Highway 77 and Porter Avenue, Trail Woods offers new homes from the $120’s to the $160’s. Two and three bedroom floor plans are available, with new home designs starting just below 1,000 square feet up to 1,634 square feet.  In addition to the many homesites available at Trailwoods for a family to build on, several homes are already completed and ready for quick move-in. The new home community’s central location provides easy, quick access to I-35, Sooner Road and Highway 9.

Young homeowners living in Trail Woods attend Adams Elementary, Whittier Middle School and Norman North High School, which is a short walking distance south of the community. Also within walking and biking distance from Trail Woods is the Cleveland County Family YMCA.

True to the Ideal Homes’ energy efficiency commitment, all the new homes in Trail Woods are constructed to building codes that offer twice the energy efficiency for heating and cooling costs as standard Energy Star homes.

For homeowners looking for a city with an abundance of entertainment, educational opportunities and athletics, Norman, Oklahoma, has it all. Chocolate lovers rejoice every winter at the annual Chocolate Festival sponsored by the Firehouse Art Center. Lords and ladies gather every spring to celebrate the Medieval Fair. Music enthusiasts listen to the smooth, captivating sounds of Jazz in June every summer. Come fall, it’s time to get some football and tailgating on as the OU Sooners take to the field.

Norman, Ideal Homes and Trail Woods – a true winning combination for anyone looking for new homes in Norman, Oklahoma.

Our Director of Customer Care, Chad Tolle, is our new homeowner’s best resource for home health advice. Our  E-Newsletter, Tolle’s Toolbox, will circulate bi-monthly and tie back to different tips he and the Customer Care Team share through our blog.

The first tidbits regarding yard maintenance are crucial given this mild temperature we have had so far this winter season. One surefire way to watch a potentially beautiful lawn deteriorate is by not quenching its thirst throughout the seasons.

Tolle states the following in regards to wetting your lawn’s whistle:

Continue to water new sod, shrubs and trees as weather permits.  Grass turns brown and trees lose leaves due to changes in seasons. Make sure to still care for lawn and landscaping.

Winter can bring precipitation, and yet Oklahoma weather is anything but predictable.  If climate dictates no moisture for a week and the temperatures are mild enough to do so, it’s time to water. Watering the grass during winter months can continue to help secure root establishment. This will assist in making  greener, healthier lawns when the season changes.

Another thing to consider – avoid herbicides if your lawn is less than a year old. Herbicide will kill your dormant Bermuda. This will leave your lawn in disarray upon the arrival of spring.

We will post more advice soon. If you have tidbits of advice you would like to share regarding home health, email kboone@ideal-homes.com.

Visit Ideal Homes to learn more about our company, products and communities.

There are many benefits to buying a new home. Your home is built to current codes and standards. Your home is constructed to the latest energy efficient guidelines.  The most up to date materials are used in building your new home. There are many other great things that make buying new verses used a real benefit to a new homebuyer. One great advantage is the peace-of-mind you gain from the myriad of warranties associated with a new home.

There are several levels of assurance you will receive from a good homebuilder which include walk-throughs, checklists, and in-house and outside warranties.

1) As your home is being built there are a number of walk-throughs that may take place with the homeowner which coincide with the inspections. Whether or not you personally walk through your new home, the builder will conduct walkthroughs with inspectors that make sure all your electrical, plumbing and construction are up to current codes.

2) Many builders will include  a one-year warranty that allows for repairs to issues discovered after the construction of the home and move in. For instance it is not uncommon to see nail pops as a home settles but many builders will give the home owner a one year checklist and will then come in and fix building related issues such as those and other construction related issues.

3) A one year mechanical warranty is not uncommon with many builders. This will cover any electrical or plumbing issues that arise with in the first year related to the installation and building of your home.

4) All your appliances, mechanical equipment, roofing, and siding come with warranties from the various companies who make the equipment or manufacture the materials. If there are defects and problems and if it is a default of the product the company will take care of the issues.

5) A ten-year structural warranty is often administered by an outside warranty company, which the builder provides with the home.   In essence this is a policy provided by a third party who is ensuring that if any structural defects within the parameters of the warranty were to happen as a result of the construction of the home by improper building practices by the builder, this warranty would cover the problems. Because it is an outside company providing this warranty builders have to prove the quality of construction and pass muster with these companies in order to be taken on as a client by the third party warranty provider. This in itself is a statement on the quality of construction and reputation of a builder.

The conditions of various warranty types, terms, and time limits differ from builder to builder. For more information on the specific warranties provided with your Ideal Homes home, contact us.

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Your new home search is drawing to a close. It’s been an exciting and educational journey. If you have put significant time into the process, you are ahead of the masses. Home buyer studies show people spend more time researching flat screen televisions than they do the purchase of their homes.

You are at the point your selections are narrowed down to two homes. Price, size, amenities and location are all ideal, but you just can’t determine THE winner. Will it be the two-story new home with the gorgeous master suite or the new three-car garage home with the chef’s kitchen? 

Try this simple, old-fashioned neighborly suggestion, and it may help you commit to the new home address that will find you instantly thrilled with your new home and the families residing nearest to yours.

Knock on the doors of the families located around the homes you’re considering. Introduce yourself and ask them about the community. What was their experience working with the builder before and after the sale? Ask about the homeowner’s association. Ask how they feel about their existing neighbors.

Observe the aesthetics of their property. What’s the outward appearance of their home? Does it have attractive curb appeal, or does the yard need a landscaping miracle? Are there several cars parked on the property? What about boats or RVs? Is their front porch an unsightly storage spot? If you feel uncomfortable with their upkeep, select a different home site.

When you meet the people who may be your new neighbors, you lay the foundation for positive interaction, if you choose to live next door. Evaluate your encounters and ask yourself what neighbors you prefer. Let those answers assist you with your final home.

In this age of ever-changing technology and high-tech communication, knowing your neighbors is often an uncommon experience. Introducing yourself and extending a handshake prior to your new home purchase may be the smartest neighborly thing you’ll ever do.

For more suggestions on the new home selection process contact Ideal Homes at www.ideal-homes.com or call 405.364.1152.

You’ve decided it’s time to move. Your current home no longer fits your needs and you’ve found the perfect new home to fit your family. Now what? Should you fix up your home or sell it “As Is?”

In order to decide that answer you need to ask yourself a series of three important questions:

• How much money do I hope to get for my home?
• How does my home currently stack up against others in my neighborhood?
• How quickly do I want my home to sell?

Time and money are the two most important things to consider when selling your home. If fully updated and beautiful homes in your neighborhood are selling for $10,000 less than you want to make off the sale of your home, then you may need to readjust your expectations.

What that scenario is telling you is that no amount of work (And money) will garner you the return you want on your new home. By getting a real estate agent to do a Competitive Market Analysis (CMA) on your house and how it compares to other sales in your neighborhood, you will first have a better idea of how your home stacks up against the competition, and second have an idea of what price you can expect in your neighborhood. A thorough CMA will also give you an idea of how long it has taken for other homes in your neighborhood to sell.

Once armed with more information you can make a few more decisions about projects that will make the most sense in order to increase the appeal of your home for buyers. Taking a look at this home seller’s checklist will help you gauge which projects will really pay to help you sell your home.

There are two main areas you need to focus on when assessing your situation and deciding just how far to go with the sprucing up of your home to make it sellable. The curb appeal and the interior spaces. For now let’s focus on the exterior of your home and look at inexpensive fixes.

Ask yourself, if you were to look at the front view of your home and had never seen it before, would you be likely to buy it? Are the trees and shrubs manicured, are leaves racked, grass mowed, flowerbeds weeded? Does it look friendly and inviting, or does it look like you are getting ready for Halloween decorations early? More often then not, it’s more about elbow grease than actually dollars to increase your curb appeal, and increase the likelihood that your home will be inviting on first sight to those who may be looking.

A day of racking, trimming, and cleaning will do wonders for your home. This is only your labor. A few dollars spent on flowers and mulch can be transforming to many homes.

By working your way down the outdoor checklist, you will create the curb appeal to bring buyers into your home and begin to capture their interest. Without a good looking outside, you can’t hope to entice them inside to decide whether your old space could be there new home.

Image source: ©PhotoXpress.com

You are ready to move! You’ve found the perfect new home for you and your family, but you need to find a buyer for your old house. Here are two lists, one inside and one outside, of quick fixes and inexpensive ways to make your home more appealing to the traffic walking through the door.

Curb Appeal:

• Weed your gardens
• Plant some inexpensive pops of color
• Put down a couple of fresh bags of mulch
• Trim and shape your trees and bushes
• Mow your lawn
• Sweep your walkways, decks and porches
• Wash your windows
• Clean all the spider webs and dirt from around your doors
• Use some glass cleaner on your outdoor light fixtures
• Make sure all hoses and the like are stored in decorative or hidden tubs
• Fix any issues like detached shutters, popped siding, or dirty areas

Most of these list items can be taken care of with lots of elbow grease and little money, but it makes a huge impact on how your home is perceived from the first impression.

The 2nd first impression happens as soon as you walk through the door. Key changes that can be made with little or no money will greatly improve the sale ability of your home, and limit the number of days on the market so that you can move forward with your plans to move into a new home to suit the needs of your family.

Interior Appeal:

• De-clutter
• Remove personal items
• Move out bulky pieces of furniture
• Make sure everything is clean
• If you have bold or warn out wall colors consider re-painting with neutral colors
• Open shades and blinds and let the sun light in
• Make sure light bulbs aren’t burnt out to provide nice light in every room
• Clear all the magnets and junk off the refrigerator
• Clear the counters in the kitchen from useless clutter and put all appliances away
• Organize your garage, make sure it looks like you can and should store a car there
• Make beds
• Pick up and store toys
• Organize closets

A rule of thumb for getting your home’s interior ready for sale, is if in doubt, get it out. The more crisp clean, open, calm and clear your home is the more likely a buyer will be able to envision themselves buying the house and making it their own home. If you have clutter everywhere they will begin to see the house as a small cramped area not large enough for their own needs.

By going over your home with a fine-toothed comb with special attention to the items of this checklist you won’t spend a lot of dollars but you will put out a lot of energy. It may seem like a lot of work, but it will pay you back with less time on the market and a higher return on your investment.

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Are you a homeowner who is disenchanted with your current home and wants to get out? Do you keep thinking, “If I get out now though, I am not going to make any money on this home?”

This is a common problem we encounter all the time. We have current homeowners walk into our models who want a new home, they fall in love, but they are afraid to let go of their current homes without something to show for it. It’s a very common conversation to hear, “But I won’t get out of the home what I wanted.”

This is the reality of a buyers market. As a seller, you are less likely in the current economy to get the monetary value that you wanted out of your current home if you sell it right now. Though there are exceptions to this rule for sure, this is a general concept you need to accept in order to move forward with you life as a homeowner.

The good news is that you aren’t just a home seller; you are also a homebuyer yourself! As a buyer of a new home you are getting lots of features, bells, and whistles that will, in most cases, far outweigh what you are giving up in your current home. And you will get all those features and upgrades for a heck of a lot less than you would if it was a sellers market. Even better, these features will be in a home you want to own, not one from which you would like to escape.

What it is about your current home that has you shopping for a new home? Make a list. When you examine that list then ask yourself, are these situations and conditions you are willing to overlook for the next year? What about the next 2 years? How about the next five years?

If you will increasingly be unsatisfied with your current living situation then you need to make some important decisions. Will you be able to reconcile the loss of funds you take in your old house to get into a house that more perfectly fits your needs? Remember, when the market improves for you to sell your home, so too will the market improve for a builder to sell his home. You will pay proportionally more for that home that you are in love with now that fits your family’s needs now.

In the current economy you are getting more bang for your buck in a new home, so you need to take that into consideration when you think that you are getting less money for your current home. That coupled with the fact that interest rates are at an all time low make it a perfect time to sell your old home, and buy your new home.

Somewhere in your thought process, something has got to give. It will either be your concept of what you want to get for your home right now, or your concept of what you want to pay for a new home in the future.

Image source: ©PhotoXpress.com

Throwing a housewarming party is the perfect opportunity to show off where you live, bring old friends together and meet your new neighbors.

Invite. Spread the word about your upcoming event, but don’t spend money on invitations. Instead, use a combination of technology and old-fashioned face-to-face interaction:

• Send a mass text to your friends and family letting them know to save the date for your upcoming event
• Create an event on Facebook with the date, time and driving directions
• Introduce yourself to your new neighbors and invite them to your party
• Invite some of your co-workers to attend

Food. Now that you’ve gotten the word out, it’s time to plan your menu. Whether you choose finger foods or a full meal, remember to keep it simple so it doesn’t take time away from your guests. Food is the most expensive item when hosting a party, so don’t reject any offers from friends or family who offer to bring something.

Remind. About a week before your event, send another text reminding everyone about your party and ask if they plan to attend. This will give you a better idea of how much food to buy. It will also give you the opportunity to answer any questions your guests may have.

Shop. Go shopping for food, drinks and your plates, cups and napkins a couple days before your party. You may also want to buy some balloons to tie on your mailbox so your home can be easily spotted.

Prepare. Get your home ready for your guests.

• Find a convenient spot for people to leave their purses or coats
• Make sure you have enough toilet paper, soap and fresh towels in each bathroom
• Determine where the flow of traffic will go throughout your home and decide if you want to put snacks at gathering points (like on a coffee table or end tables)
• If the weather is nice, put some chairs in your backyard so people can get the full experience of your new home

Decorate. There is no need to go to a party store and spend money on cheesy house cut-outs or other decorating items that will most likely get thrown away after your party.

• If you took pictures of each phase of your home while it was under construction, use those photos as a centerpiece. Put them on your breakfast bar or place them on your buffet among the food.
• If you don’t have those photos, buy decorating magazines and tear out some of your favorite pages and put them in the rooms you would like to decorate.

Food Placement. A buffet is the easiest way to get a crowd of hungry people moving in your desired direction. Use your stove to keep food warm or just use it as an extension of your counter space. Set cups, beverages and ice in a location that is noticeable for your guests after they finish the buffet line.

Party! Your guests are starting to arrive, and you can’t wait to show them your new home. Don’t feel obligated to give formal tours, let your guests marvel at your home at their leisure. Introduce new friends to old and share your experience of buying/building your new home. Have fun and enjoy your new home!