Tony Marnella

The answer is, yes, to both. The architectural style is what most people associate town homes with, yet the lifestyle is truly the most appreciated aspect by those that chose town home living.

Webster's Dictionary defines a town house as: "a usually single-family house of two or sometimes three stories that is usually connected to a similar house by a common sidewall." Thus, an architectural style. However, what isn't clarified is the lifestyle also associated with Town homes/houses. Town homes are ideal for those who lead active lives. Town home owners typically enjoy traveling, outdoor activities and social activities. They are often business professionals with careers, parents with children and those looking to wind down. One of the many benefits of town home living is that a homeowner can enjoy all their activities without having to worry about home maintenance like yard work, exterior painting, gutter cleaning and roof maintenance. These homes and communities are designed for a quality of life that puts you and your family first and leaves home maintenance and yard work up to someone else.

In a current societal shift that has brought back the theme of "less is more", the town home lifestyle fits right in. Owning a home with unused rooms has become less important. The large abundance of square feet that was once deemed necessary is being replaced by smaller, more charming and functional spaces.

With ever increasing energy costs, the smaller more energy efficient homes not only create a more comfortable living environment, but create less impact on the household budget and environment. As an example, the town homes at Volare in Happy Valley, being built by Marnella Homes, offer monthly energy savings of approximately $40 more than a code-built or detached home of similar size. This monthly savings equates to extra money that a homeowner can keep in their pocket.

Another positive aspect of town home living is a feeling of safety and security. Those living in town home communities tend to develop a "look out for your neighbor" atmosphere which is very comforting. You can leave on vacation and return to find your home just as you left it; not only secure and safe, but grass mowed, weeds pulled and well maintained.

If you walk through a town home community like Volare and meet the homeowners, you will find that the option to buy a single family detached home was available, yet they purchased a town home. Whether current Volare residents owned a larger home and decided to make the switch to town home living or were first-time homebuyers who liked the town home lifestyle, the reasons to live in a town home tend to be very similar. Ease of living to accommodate an active lifestyle.

So, before you think of a town home as just another style of housing, explore all they have to offer and you may find that a town home is in your future, too.

It is not surprising that when you talk with someone about our differences in how we insulate their eyes glaze over. However, it is very important. In a market that is no longer a "buy & flip", but a "hold for the long term" as in years past. Features like insulation, heating systems, quality levels of materials, etc are important for the lasting value of a home. Considering that buying a home is only half of the transaction, the other half is when it is sold in 5 - 10 years. What features will provide that lasting value that older homes and many of the other new homes on the market will not have. I have commented on our testing and heating systems in the past, now I am going to talk about insulation and why blown-in bib (BIB) insulation should be an important feature to a home owner.

The difference between BIB insulation and batt insulation is that batt insulation is rolled up insulation that is unrolled an applied between wall studs, ceilings trusses and floor joists. Which means that it rolls over any electrical conduit, plumbing, heating ducts, etc. and cannot fill in the entire void between the wall studs or joists. This leaves pockets or voids where the insulation couldn't insulate which will allow for heat to escape. However, BIB insulation is just that, insulation blown into a wall or ceiling cavity leaving no air pockets or voids. The result is densely packed insulation producing higher R values, cuts down air infiltration and slowing the transfer of temperature in a wall or ceiling cavity through the flow of air. This reduces both sound transmission as well as energy loss.

At Marnella Homes, our current wall BIB system,for our Volare town homes in Happy Valley, is tested and documented at a R24 rating. Code only requires a R21 rating for walls and our ceilings have a R49 rating with code only requiring R38. This is a significant increase in insulating performance. The R value insulation ratings are used to measure insulations ability to resist heat flow. The higher the R value, the more effective it is. For more information on what the "R" value for insulation is, see the following link: http://rvalue.net

This results in a direct benefit to the home owner in reduced energy costs. Combined with the other performance enhancements, like a high efficiency furnace and hot water heater significantly reduce monthly energy expenses. Money each and every month that you keep in your pocket. It today's world every dollar saved is important. At Volare, our town home owners are saving on average $40 a month compared to a home built to code. These home owners are not only enjoying a more comfortable living environment, but they have extra cash to either save or treat themselves to something well deserved.

For our potential first time home buyers out there, the $8000 Federal Housing Tax Credit that you are eligible for is coming to a close. By the 1^st of December 2009, only 3 months way, this tax credit will be no more. However, due to the time necessary to close a home taking about 30 - 45 days, what this really means is that you will need to have your sales agreement accepted and in escrow by the 15^th of October just to be safe. Since you have only about a month and a half of shopping time left, don't delay. Take advantage of all that is available in the market place right now; historically low interest rates, home values that have reset in many markets to 2003/2004 prices and an $8000 government give-a-way.

Don't be one of those who feels that the housing market has a long way to fall. There is too much positive news coming out all over the country to counter that theory. Remember, it only takes interest rates to move up a half of a percent to wipe out the benefit of a 10% drop in sales price. With many markets identifying their bottoms already, waiting for deeper price cuts is a mistake that you will surely regret when the tax credit is gone and rates go up. Which, they will.

Don't miss out on what will be looked back upon as an opportunity of a lifetime for those willing to take advantage of it.

For frequently asked questions and more information on the Federal Housing Tax Credit refer to: http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/2009/index.html

and

http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=206291,00.html

I wrote back in January about the behind the scenes inspections and testing that the green high performance homes get that many don't know about or if they do, don't appreciate the intensity of them. Since we continue to hear about Buyers wanting the "Best Deal" or the "Best Value", it occurred to me that the Value of these homes is also not being realized.

For instance, 100% of the homes we build here at Marnella Homes are built to the Earth Advantage/Energy Star "Gold" level. Our homes are extremely well sealed and with blow-in insulation achieve a very low leakage rating. Also, with our 95%+ HVAC systems, fully sealed ducting and all inside the home in conditioned space. Our home owners save on average $40 - $50 a month in our 1400 - 1600 sqft homes over a similiar sized code built home.

Home owners have been sold over the years all the features that builders put in and are told how great they are and sometimes even how many years the home owner will receive a payback from these features. What so many times doesn't get either explained or truly appreciated by the home owner or buyer is the value of these features. We took on the venture of Green performance building with the "What's in it for me" approach. Thinking just selling features to someone who doesn't know much about the industry will tend to make their eyes glaze over. So, we have tried to show our home owners and buyers "what is in it for them".

In the case of a monthly savings, this is a direct savings over what they would be paying for utilities at any other new code built home. Plus, even with many builders getting on the green built performance band wagon most are doing just the minimum to get their homes certified so, we are outperforming most builders in our area. This is money that can be for that massage every month, the manicure, dinner, a movie with the family, a ski lift ticket in the winter, etc. So, many things that these homes make easier to afford. Because, isn't the old saying, "a penny saved is a penny earned" more relevant today than ever before in our life time?

Now that I have addressed the actual savings, let's look at the added value. Using the $40 - $50 a month in savings, at today's interest rates that is about $8,000 to $10,000 in additional value to the home. Of course, our lenders aren't going to let you borrow more because we can show the energy savings, but wouldn't it be great to know that you have built-in additional financial strength due to the lower monthly cost of home ownership? I do believe that some lenders will eventually see this value and want to work with builders like us once this resonates with them. However, I am not holding my breath for this to happen anytime soon.

Lastly, now that real estate has moved back to a more traditional style of ownership, I feel that the long term value that these homes offer is also important. Energy costs are going to continually rise so, in 5, 7, 10 years or so when we sell our homes doesn't it seem that it will be a added value to your buyer that your home saves a considerable amount in monthly utility costs over the resale homes that will be on the market at the same time? I think it should now and most assuredly then.

So, buying a home isn't just the countertops, the carpet and appliances. Sure those are the features that you can see, feel and touch, but don't over look some of the most important features that truly create the "value" in your home. You can always change your carpet, appliances and countertops, but it tends to be a little harder to retrofit a high performance HVAC system inside your home in the conditioned space if you are replacing a traditional system it's not very easy to go back and effectively caulk and seal up a home that is already completed.

Please share your comments. I would like to hear from you.