So you’re contemplating the big decision to purchase a new home in Oklahoma City. Whether you’re a current home owner looking to invest in a bigger place or a renter excited to enter the world of new home ownership, your credit history plays the biggest role in the home-buying process.

That’s why Kent Carter, president of Citywide Mortgage, Ideal Homes’ participating lender, says the single most important thing prospective home buyers must do is guard their credit.

What does “guarding your credit” mean? Kent explains with these eight steps:

• Get a free copy of your credit report at least once per year to check for inaccurate information. Protest any false data with all three credit bureaus.

• Always pay your bills on time. Late payments may stay on your credit report up to seven years.

• Use a minimum of two credit cards each month to generate activity on your credit report.

• Keep the balances on revolving debt to about 10 percent of your high credit limit.  (Example: Don’t exceed a $400 balance on a VISA card if your credit limit is $4,000). A high balance relative to a high credit limit is derogatory even if you pay on time.

• Do not totally pay off credit cards each month. Do NOT close accounts you no longer use as this will lower your FICO score.

• Do not pay off old collections unless required by a mortgage lender. Any activity (even positive) on old credit items makes them appear as new derogatory entries and lowers your score.

• If you have paid judgments or tax liens, make sure they are shown as “paid.”  Confirmation of satisfaction is often not officially filed at the court house and continues to show up on credit reports.

Credit scores from a car dealer and a mortgage company are not the same as they “weight” different items for their beneficial interests. Installment loans affect car credit and housing entries affect mortgage credit more.  For more information - contact Kent Carter at Citywide Mortgage.

Is your fear of not being able to qualify holding you back from owning a new home?

Ideal Homes has worked with countless people whose anxiety about being unable to obtain financing almost kept them from experiencing the American Dream—Home Ownership.

Many of them have driven through our communities, fallen in love with a floor design online but decided to banish all thoughts of home ownership because they’re convinced they can’t qualify.

If you would love to own a new home but have questions about financing, I encourage you to take a chance and meet with our preferred lender, Citywide Mortgage. There’s nothing to lose because the professionals at Citywide will assess your financial situation, and if you’re not able to qualify, they’ll provide helpful advice on how to qualify in the future.

If your fear of not qualifying is holding you back, I would love the opportunity to help you overcome your fears to get you closer to home ownership.  Please email me at eamora@ideal-homes.com with your story.

At Ideal Homes we design every floor plan around livability. We strive to build new homes in Oklahoma City that work for how people actually live in them by looking at how our home buyers use their homes and customizing floor plans to fit their needs. We learn what home buyers need by analyzing feedback from several sources.

1.  Homeowner surveys. We ask every family in an Ideal home how they live in their home, what they like, and what they would change.
2.  Customer requests in the Ideal Homes’ Design Center. When we see a trend, we implement it in future designs.
3.  Ideal Homes employees. A large number of our employees are also Ideal homeowners. We get great feedback from inside our own company.

One example of feedback we’ve taken directly from our homeowners and applied to our floor plan design is the addition of more flexible space. Through a combination of the avenues above, we learned that many homeowners were using formal dining rooms for home offices, playrooms, craft rooms, music rooms or home gyms. Families were using the extra space to meet their unique needs. We knew our floor plans needed to reflect that. Ideal Homes responded by including more flex space in homes that offered different options for the space and provided plans with more flexible layouts that could meet a variety of needs.

New homes in Oklahoma City should reflect how you live.  We always encourage feedback.  Feel free to visit any of our furnished model homes and give us our thoughts.

At Ideal Homes, we salute our military families and proudly welcome them into our new home communities. That’s why we want to make sure they know that select military personnel are still eligible for the federal home buyer tax credit. The extended purchase deadline, however, is fast approaching.

Qualified service members on official extended duty outside the United States for at least 90 days between January 2009 through April 2010 have until April 30, 2011, to purchase a home and reap tax credit benefits up to $8,000. The real estate transaction must close by June 30, 2011.

According to www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com , qualified service members are U.S. military uniformed services members, U.S. foreign service members or intelligence community employees. A person forced to return to the United States for medical reasons before completing an assignment of at least 90 days of qualified official extended duty may also receive the home buyer tax credit extension.

Here’s how the home buyer tax credit works:

After closing, first-time buyers receive a federal housing tax credit equal to 10 percent of the home’s purchase price, not to exceed $8,000. Current home owners living in their principal residence for at least five consecutive years may receive up to $6,500 when they purchase another principal residence. Qualified service members who sell or move from a tax credit home within three years of the initial purchase due to official extended duty are exempt from the recapture clause.

Income limits apply, and home buyers eligible for a V.A. mortgage may qualify for 100 percent financing.

A new Ideal Home plus an $8,000 home buyer tax credit –what a winning combination. For more information on our new homes starting from the $100s, please contact Elena at 405.364.1152, toll free 866.277.2670 or visit www.ideal-homes.com

Starved for affordable design ideas? Tired of trying to match the design shows with their unrealistic budgets?

For most of us, it only takes one trip through the home center or the furniture store to figure out that our dollar just isn’t going to go as far as they show it on television.

Dari Roberts, Ideal’s Design Center manager, has five steps for designing on a budget.

1.      The first step to designing on a budget is to take a realistic look at how much you have to spend. Be honest with yourself on this one so you don’t have a room you love and a bill you hate.

2.      Step two is to decide how much you want to do for that amount. Is it one room or the whole house? Here again, be realistic so you won’t be disappointed.

3.      Step Three: Prioritize. If the budget just isn’t as big as your dream, you will have to decide what to do now and what to do later. You should do what’s most important to you, but these thoughts might help you.

Do you have an empty house with a mattress on the floor in the bedroom and not much else? Maybe your priority is to buy furniture.

Do you have enough furniture, but it’s mostly leftovers and your place looks a lot like your college apartment? Maybe you want to work on one room at a time to develop a more together look.  Or is it just time for a change? You have some great pieces, but you’re tired of the way your rooms look and you’re ready to take it to the next level. Maybe it’s time to take stock of which things you really love and want to keep. How you could re-purpose some pieces into different rooms. Maybe you just need to fill in the blanks in your new rooms with the pieces and accessories that will define your new look.

4.      Step Four: Once you decide on the scope of your project, you need to find your inspiration. Dari says it’s that thing you love that you want to build everything around. “When people come to the Ideal Homes Design Center they usually have something in mind that they just have to have. You need to decide on that item first, so everything else will work with it.” For instance, if you have to have stone countertops, pick those out first so the cabinets and backsplash will go together for a completed look. If you’re in love with dark wood floors, pick those before you shop for area rugs or furniture. In a bedroom, the inspiration is frequently bedding, since the bed is the largest and first-noticed item in the room. Your inspiration may be something you already have, or it may be something you find new. In either case, it will serve as the guide for all your design decisions.

5.    Step Five: Make your master list. Write everything down. Take pictures of your old things and things you are considering buying. Your project is a lot easier to manage if you have it all in front of you.

Now you’re ready to decide on what things you will need to complete your design and how much you are budgeting for each item.  This list should be in priority order with the most important things on top. Designers select the most expensive and hardest to change items first – like flooring and permament lighting.  Easier things to change include accessories and wall art.

Dari’s final words of advice: Shop. Do your homework. Collect color samples so you can be sure everything works together and with your inspiration piece. Don’t forget to put a price on everything. It will save you time, money and grief. If you’re absolutely in love with the expensive sectional, plan to shop TJ Maxx and Steinmart for the other things.

That’s how Dari pulls together Ideal’s model homes, and the result is stunning and open every day for you to visit and get ideas.

Over half of Ideal Homes home buyers are purchasing their first home.  One of the challenges of home ownership is saving money for that intimidating down payment.

Preparation for your down payment is a challenge. Spending money without being mindful of budget is easy; debit and credit cards = quick swipes to purchases. Saving money conversely is not so easy. Saving money is important. What if you’ve had your eye on a new home in Oklahoma City?

If you are a renter, the possibility of home ownership seems more and more appealing with each passing rent payment. The benefit of tax deductions and the building of equity make initial sacrifices of spending to save for a down payment a little easier to support. Where will the money come from? Where will you find your down payment and all those other new home expenses?

Chances are, the money may be easier to find than you think. The first place to start looking – your spending habits.

If you arrive at work every morning with a cup of coffee from your favorite coffee shop, how much does that put you back? Let’s assume $4. Multiply that by five days a week, and you’ve consumed $1,040 worth of caffeine in one year. If your significant other does the same thing, together you’re spending almost $2,100 on hot beverages. Consider the alternatives: invest in a coffee pot and make your own at home, satisfy your super Joe addiction only two days a week or find a convenience store that sells the stuff at a quarter of the price.

It’s 11 a.m., and you’re hungry. Where will you and your co-workers go for lunch today? Restaurant meals take a big bite out of your pocketbook. Let’s say you spend $10 a day. Over 12 months, those lunches eat up $2,600.  If your significant other eats restaurant meals daily as well, the two of you rack up $5,200 in restaurant expenses each year. The alternatives: brown-bag it or check out the $1 menu at many fast-food places.

If new homeownership is on your horizon, make a plan. Set a budget and watch those expenses. It may stretch your spending resolve initially, but in the end it will be well worth the sacrifices made.

Contact us and ask us for additional tips that will help you take the first big step to home ownership.

Many people begin their search for new homes in Oklahoma City by calling a REALTOR®. This often leads to the question, “Is Ideal Homes open to working with my real estate agent?”

The answer: “Absolutely.”

Ideal Homes loves working with real estate agents and we’ve fostered great relationships within the Oklahoma City Metro community of REALTORS®.  In fact, over 40 percent of our customers work with a local REALTOR®.

Many of the top real estate agents in the area consistently show Ideal homes. Why? Because they’re experts in the real estate market, and they know that Ideal Homes builds quality, energy efficient homes in the best school districts in the metro area.

Vernon McKown, Co-owner and President of Sales of Ideal Homes, has had the opportunity to give back to the real estate community by sharing his expertise in building science and green building through continuing education courses provided at no cost to local REALTORS®.  Tony Marbell, Ideal Homes’ REALTOR® Relations Field Director, spends time in area real estate offices to make sure we have a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in the market and to educate the REALTORS® on our quality homes and processes.

Whether you stop by one of our 18 model homes with a REALTOR® or shop for a new home on your own, Ideal Homes will provide same great service throughout your home buying process.

Some of the amazing REALTOR® organizations we work with include:

Oklahoma City Metro Association of REALTORS®

Norman Board of REALTORS®

Edmond Board of REALTORS®

Stillwater Board of REALTORS®

Midwest City/Del City/Moore Association of REALTORS®

I am fascinated with clocks. This was a fascination even as a young girl. The time keeping aspect didn’t intrigue me as much as the inner workings of the clocks’ functions. From early remembrance it was imperative to know exactly what made those hands move, from where the steady “tick, tick, tick, tick” noise derived and how the numbers were prompted to change on the digital clocks. This curiosity is still prevalent as an adult. Even the clock widget on my Android myTouch 4G phone is fashioned after internal gears of a clock. Contemplation of a topic to share as a blog post for Ideal Homes brought clocks to mind for multiple reasons:                                                                                                                               

1 – Transparency: Similar to opening a grandfather clock

                How often do you encounter transparency in the inner workings of an organization? I had the privilege of attending the January 2011 kickoff staff meeting. It was my first and will happily attend many more. There is quite possibly no word that conveys my views of that meeting; “refreshing” bears the closest semblance. During the meeting Ideal Homes’ business standings were prominently displayed for the employees. Ideal Homes states one of their Core Values to be Integrity; openly revealing strengths and weaknesses is one way they exemplify this.

2 – Internal processes: Each department equals a gear

                There are many facets to both the development of an Ideal Home Community and the output of the final product, a new home. Ideal Homes has many departments internally that  operate in an autonomous manner, yet are bound together and driven by a desire to provide Ideal home buyers with an exceptional new home purchase experience. Development, Production, Accounting, Sales, Selection Center, Customer Care and Marketing produce a well designed and constructed new home; set in the best school districts; conveniently located near amenities and set apart by landscaping, parks and individuality.

 3 – Final product: Rhythmic production just like time

                Due to the teamwork encouraged and emphasized within the Ideal Homes corporate culture, the home buying process for an Ideal Homes’ new home buyer is as seamless as one could hope to have. 20 years experience would mean nothing if the owners and the Senior Management Team had not chosen to glean lessons and apply learned principles to ideal Homes’ processes. The adjustments over the years translate into a more thorough information share with individual home buyers, an advanced scheduling of necessary meetings, a more open and consistent communication with individual home buyers and a strong follow up process. As a home buyer this means one is able not only to express concerns and needs during the home building process, but also to be heard and have adjustments made as needed.

 There are other processes Ideal Homes has which can be stated as analogous of clocks. Continue visiting our blog and learn more about new home building processes, corporate culture, community involvement, employee highlights. Let us know your thoughts and share with us topics you would like to read here.

Building an energy efficient new home is not about one isolated component- it’s treating the home as a system.  Many people (and builders unfortunately) equate an efficient and healthy home solely with the heating and cooling unit and the type of interior material used in the home – like low VOC paint, etc.  While those elements are important, the biggest impact on your home’s efficiency and your family’s health starts before the sheet rock is on the home.  Two often overlooked contributors are:

1.  Tightly sealed ducts in the new home

2.  A fresh-air strategy

Here is how we tackle the first of these issues in every new Ideal home:

Which method do you want in your attic?

Ideal Homes’ Foil Flex Duct System has the greatest impact on energy efficiency.  Based on an independent market evaluation of new homes in Oklahoma City, the average air leakage is 25 to 30 percent in overhead spaces as the ducts move air from the unit to other areas of the home.  This is in new homes – just imagine the leakage in older homes.  What does this mean to homeowners?  They spend one quarter of their monthly bill to heat and cool their attic. Verified by a third party expert the Ideal Homes system guarantees five percent or less air leakage.  We utilize a Mylar backed insulation to wrap the ducts  This acts as a thermos to reduce temperature exchange.  We also use a mastic sealant around the joints secured with vinyl tie straps for the best non-conductive, hardened fit.

Once the home is sealed tight, it is vital to have a fresh-air strategy for your home.  Everyday living produces a lot of moisture in your home.  Consider this; the average single-family home uses 80 gallons of water per person each day.  That’s a lot of moisture in a home.  We also know vehicles leak fumes into homes from garages.  When we build an Ideal home, we want to make sure families are breathing the freshest air possible at all times.  We are happy to share our processes openly with those who inquire.

In a later post, we will discuss the fresh-air ventilation strategy used by Ideal Homes in every new home in Oklahoma City.

This past Saturday was a rare winter day where you could venture outdoors with only a light jacket.  As a builder of new homes in Oklahoma City, we at Ideal Homes love sunny days.  Our furnished model homes in all 16 Ideal Homes Communities see a lot of foot traffic on nice days.  Of course not everyone is searching for a new home in Oklahoma City. The next time the temperature rises and you want to enjoy the weather,  here are few of my favorite places to visit (besides a model home).

Martin Nature Park Nature Center – It’s free, convenient, and scenic.  Martin Nature Park is a great place for the kids to stretch their legs and see some cool wildlife.

The Oklahoma City Zoo – We have a great Zoo in Oklahoma City and nice winter days are a great time to visit.  Check out the new Children’s Zoo area while you’re there.

Oklahoma Railway Museum – This museum is a hidden treasure.  The kids (and adults) will love riding the real train.  You can even have birthday parties in the old boxcar.