Clay Bricks or Limestone Bricks or Cementious Limestone, which do you prefer? Or have you ever given it much thought? At Antares Homes we are very interested in Brick. Bricks are used in the construction of a new home as sheathing. Bricks are not a structural part of your home in the same way that the frame is. Bricks prevent water seepage into the backup walls just like the roof shingles prevent water from seeping into your home from the top. Bricks are breathable and do allow for moisture to penetrate and drain through the weep holes at the bottom of the veneer. They also provide for some R-Factor on the exterior of your home as well. But what most of us notice about bricks are how they look on your home!
A home with little to no brick detailing is very drab. We try to include some architectural detailing on every home of ours even on the least expensive “A” elevations. These details are called Row Locks, Soldiers, and Herringbone patterns. Combined with different roof pitches and types, we allow for the creation of a very diverse look to our neighborhoods. Who wants to live in a neighborhood where every home looks the same? Not me either, but I have seen neighborhoods just like that!
We use three brands of Brick at Antares Homes and four types of Brick: Limestone Brick, Cementious Limestone and Clay. Bilco Bricks are one of the options that we offer standard in most of our Neighborhoods. They have a 110 year warranty and are made of a Limestone and Cement Mixture that is very durable. Hanson Limestone Bricks are the other option that is standard in most of our neighborhoods. It has a 101 year Warranty. We also use Hanson Clay Brick and Acme Clay Brick. Acme Bricks have a 100 Year Guarantee. Wow! Any item that has warranties that long is durable! Did you know that bricks can be reused and recycled? I watched a building being cladded with recycled brick. Once they finished, they painted it. Beautiful!
Have you noticed that although the weather in North Texas has been very Bipolar of late, we only get the cold and dreary stuff on the weekends? I’m all stuck inside working while it’s bright and sunny and warm and then the weekend comes and I can’t bring myself to get out of bed because the weather is so disappointing. So to cheer myself up, I decided to make Caldo de Pollo. That’s chicken soup, Mexican Style.
My first order of business was to call all my relatives to find out how they make Mexican Rice, since I’d never made it before (or even Chicken Soup for that matter). My cousin Feliz had a completely different way of making it than my sister. My cousin Yvette didn’t call me back (she hates sharing her recipes because they are the best) but I have eaten her rice and watched her make it in the rice cooker once before. After heavy consultation, I did what I always do and take the best ideas from every one else and make it my own way.
I decided to make the rice and the chicken soup separately and then add them together when I served it up. I used boneless skinless chicken tenderloins instead of a whole chicken since I don’t like bones or skin or dark meat. I put quite a bit of low sodium, fat free chicken broth in my crock pot, added the chicken tenderloins and cranked that baby up. Now it’s time for the rice.
I used brown rice, which was the first departure from tradition. I browned it with some onions and garlic in a skillet. Then I dumped it unceremoniously in the rice cooker and added a can of Rotel with cilantro. That was the second departure from tradition. Most people I know use tomato paste or tomato sauce. I also know a lot of people who add peas and carrots to their rice, but I’ve never like it that way. Instead of water I cooked the rice with more chicken broth.
I did chop up carrots and celery and add that to the chicken and broth fiesta in the crock pot. After a while there was a chicken-y scum floating on the top, but I was too lazy to skim it or strain it. Hey, I’m an amateur!
No, I didn’t forget to list the spices. I didn’t add any. I left that up to the can of Rotel and the natural yumminess of the ingredients I was using.
After everything cooked up to perfection (I mean I went to the gym, had a shower and was now ready for my lunch which was bubbling up nicely in the crock pot all morning) I served myself a half a cup of rice and a cup of chicken soup on top. YUM!
We are in a drought. Yes, I know we just got drenched by record setting rains a couple of weeks ago, but we are still in a drought. There is still the threat of more severe water restrictions hanging over our heads as we begin to think about our gardens for the Spring. Yes, it can get worse! Did you know that during warm weather, 40 to 60% of your water bill is spent on outdoor watering? What do you do?
The first step in dealing will all of this is to know your restrictions. Each City that we build in has a web page that lets you know what you are dealing with.
Then you can find other ways to conserve water that don’t involve outdoor watering. For example, did you know the City of Fort Worth is GIVING AWAY low flow toilets? Antares Homes always installs them on our new homes, but if you don’t have one of our homes you can use one of these water saving thrones yourself!
You can also schedule a free irrigation audit with the City of Fort Worth to determine if your sprinkler system is operating at peak performance.
And then, there is your yard. Did you know some grasses are more drought tolerant than others? We install Bermuda Grass on our new homes and that grass can go 7-8 days without watering. There are also native plants and flowers that require less water as well. Using these plants at your home is called Xeriscaping. North Central Texas Smartscape has a great website with loads of tools for Xeriscaping your home. It can be as simple or complicated as you desire!
If you purchased an inventory home from us, you most likely have a home that includes an upgraded carpet from either Mohawk or Shaw. Upgraded carpets are our first choice in our inventory homes because they have longer warranties than base grade carpet. They also include Stain and Soil Resistant Technologies that are better than the base grade which translates into happier homeowners for us!
Have you ever stopped to think that in most homes, the carpet is the largest area covered that takes a beating daily? Most homeowners are concerned with how to take care of their carpet and prevent spills from staining. Did you know there is a difference between “Soil” and “Stain”? A stain is the red dye left over from a Gatorade spill. Soil is the dirt that can penetrate in between the fibers causing a darkening of the look of the carpet. Our upgraded Shaw carpets all have R2X technology which is a wash of the fibers that combines a stain and soil resistance which is better than a topical treatment (like spraying Scotchguard on your carpet before you move in) which only affects the topmost fibers of your carpet. Mohawk uses a similar wash technique for their Revive technology.
Here are some great carpet care tips compiled from the Shaw and Mowhak websites.
Preventative measures like mats at outside entry areas can reduce the amount of soil tracked into your home.
Move your furniture around. This can refresh the pile under heavy pieces.
Clean area rugs often and check for colorfastness before laying them over your carpet.
Vacuuming. Did you know it’s not just a once a week chore? In heavy traffic areas of your home, you should vacuum the traffic lanes daily and the entire area twice weekly. One pass of the vacuum is not enough either-up to three passes for light soiling and five to seven passes for heavy soiling. Change the vacuum direction on each pass to refresh the pile and prevent matting.
Cut burned parts of carpet with curved nail scissors.
Always blot spills, never rub or scrub aggressively. Here is a quick link for specific spill instructions from Shaw. Here is another one from Mohawk.
Have your carpets professionally cleaned by hot water extraction, most commonly known as “Steam Cleaning” every twelve to eighteen months depending on the number of occupants in the home
Have you been thinking about a new home for a long time? Have you watched interest rates and home prices drop? Have you noticed that home prices are now rising?
We are at the beginning of the upswing in pricing for Real Estate in our area. Guess what else is happening? Loan costs are on the rise too. That means both interest rates and mortgage insurance premiums will be higher on FHA loans. What does that mean to you? Move quickly! Claim your inventory home and lock in your rate and current MIP rates before they skyrocket at the end of this month. This could save you thousands of dollars over a 30 year loan.
Most folks only sell 2 or 3 homes in their lifetime. In order to sell it quickly and for the highest price, and buy the home you really want, you’ll want to appeal to the most people possible in the marketplace. Below are some great tips that our selling experts can teach you about selling your existing home.
Cater to the lazy person
Most buyers want to move in and unpack. By getting your home ready before you sell, it could mean a much faster sale at a higher price.
Box it up
Your home is where you spend the majority of your time, so there may be things in your home that you love, but others see as clutter. Most people pack up their home after they sell it, but why wait? Sellers should pack up things before they put it on the market. This will allow potential buyers to see how large the rooms are and “picture” their own items in the home, not yours. Take down the personal pictures, mounted deer head and photos. One potential buyer could be an animal lover and another potential buyer could be a political activist. No one can tell who will view the home. The typical time that a buyer spends in a home on the first visit is 20 minutes. You want the focus of the buyer to be entirely on the house and how their possessions will look in your space.
Focal Points
Remember that most buyers spend most of their time analyzing a home in the kitchen and family room. If you need to spend money (such as painting) put it in these rooms first. Then, pick a spot to focus their attention in every room. For example, the focal point of a bedroom is usually the bed. Make sure the bedspreads and pillows look fresh and well made.
Kitchens
Clear off the clutter. Remove the coffee pots, the plants, the blenders and the bread. Remove it all. Give a clean look to the kitchen. You can make a stainless steel sink shine with thrifty cleaning remedies such as baby oil or club soda.
Polish the hardwoods and clean the floors
Call the experts for this. A good carpet cleaning from a professional will cost about $180 in a typical 2000 foot home. Practically any beaten up hardwood can be salvaged with refinishing. Cost? About $340 to $900 for a 15’x15’ room. Call a professional to clean the grout or plan to spend an entire afternoon scrubbing the grout lines to your tile. Zep is a grout cleaner that is easily available (check Lowe’s and Home Depot) and used in commercial applications. Little scrubbing is required, but be sure to follow the directions. An investment of $100 can give you thousands more in the price of an offer on your home.
Brighten up your Home
Buyers today want lots of light filled rooms. Install higher wattage light bulbs and make sure to open all the curtains and blinds completely when showing the home. New light fixtures are a way to create ambience.
Paint
A few gallons of paint can go a long way in making a home more chic and the cost can’t be beat. Covering a 12×12 room with two coats of paint will cost about $50. Use up-to-date neutral colors. Reserve any trendier or darker colors for accent walls or to highlight details such as a fireplace or arched doorway. Common color picks for accent walls are green, (not lime), stone grey or dark red. Or, instead of introducing a new color, use the paint in the rest of the room as a guide and choose a color that’s 3 shades darker than the rest. Paint the baseboards with a fresh coat of white paint, but don’t use a stark white, which can take on gray tones against some wall colors.
Find Inspiration for your Projects
Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Williams Sonoma all have some great design ideas.
Don’t forget about all the senses
A house can be perfect inside and out, but if it smells bad, buyers will likely be put off. Make sure there is not noticeable odor, such as pet smells, garbage, stale smoke, etc that will turn off others. It’s a good idea to use a room freshener (plug-ins are great, vanilla is best) in the home, but make sure that there isn’t a different fragrance used in each room of the home. Another great idea is to pour a bottle of Pine-fresh in the back of a toilet before a showing. Your whole house will smell clean and fresh.
Don’t guess on the Pricing
Asking price is the single most important reason that a property does not sell. In this buyer’s market, it is a mistake to set a high price and assume that you can lower it later, if necessary, in negotiations. Area real estate agents pay the most attention to listings when they first appear on the market. These days, they might not even bother to show your home to buyers if it is overpriced. If you start out too high, by the time you lower your price, real estate agents will have newer listings to show buyers. The buyers who do see your home will view your price cut as a sign of desperation and bid low. Pricing your home as a slight bargain will ensure that as many buyers as possible will walk through your door.
Good luck! If you need information about how to save 75% off the typical Realtor listing fee, come visit with our sales consultants and ask about our Move-Up Program which gives you access to top producing Realtors and world class service. The Antares Move-Up program success rate has averaged 96% during the economic downturn (the past 3 years). Come and see us to find out how the program can make a difference to you.
Did you know that buying a new home is a very simple process? You have one major choice to make before you begin the process: do you want to build your new home from the ground up or do you want to move into your new home in the next 30 days or less?
If you want to move quickly, let’s say your home has sold or your lease is up, or you have just re-located, an inventory home is the best option for you. An inventory home is one that the builder chose to build knowing that it is a popular floor plan and anticipating that some people may need to move into their new home in 30 days or less. There are about five steps to buying a completed inventory home:
-Gathering Your Paperwork
Now this is the first step no matter what type of home you are buying. You will need to provide your lender with a copy of your last two year’s W2’s, the two most recent paycheck stubs, a copy of your driver’s license, a copy of your social security card and your most recent checking and savings account statements. Getting this paperwork together before you begin looking will streamline the process when you are ready to make your decision.
-Loan Application
Most Home Builders will have their list of preferred or in house lenders. At Antares we have a list of over six Lenders that we prefer to work with. These people have earned their place on our list by providing great customer service to our Home Buyers and to our Sales Consultants. They are Lenders we can depend on to answer our phone calls even on weekends and after hours and they take care of our Buyers. You can submit a loan application at any of our Model Homes any day of the week. You are also welcome to use your own Lender that has already pre-approved you. Getting this part out of the way early on in the process helps you to determine what price range you want to stay in. It can also help with planning a budget for after you close. Having a realistic plan for your lifestyle is very important. For example, if you love to travel, you may want to keep your mortgage payment way below the maximum you can qualify for.
-Choose Your Home
This is the fun part! Visiting our Model Homes, looking at our completed inventory and imagining where you’ll place your furniture! Not sure what exactly will be the best style home for you? No problem. Our Sales Consultants are very good listeners and they will ask you lots of questions to discover which home will best suit your needs.
Signing on the dotted line and getting the keys to your future! Congratulations!
Have you decided you would like to pick all of the colors for your new home? Need a few months to save up your down payment? Want a floor plan that we don’t have as a completed inventory home? In love with that over sized Cul-De-Sac Home Site? Build! After the first two steps above, the next step is:
-Choose Your Floor Plan and Home Site
It can be overwhelming when we have so many different plans and locations to build. But don’t worry we are here to help! With plans ranging from three bedrooms to six bedrooms, we will have the perfect plan for you!
-Visit the Selection Studio
This is my favorite part! Since we don’t limit our Buyers to pre-selected packages, every home can be customized in many different ways. We will help you choose options that are beautiful and within any budget!
-Watch Your Home Emerge!
The construction process is very interesting if you ask me! A lot of our buyers will visit their home weekly to take pictures and observe their dreams taking form. You will meet with the Construction Manager during this time to get an overview of the construction process. He will also be able to answer any questions you have about how your home is being built. All of the Construction Managers at Antares Homes are Graduate Master Builders! Where else can you find that?
-Save Your Down Payment Money
Most of our buyers are using FHA loans. These loans require 3.5% of the mortgage value of the home as a down payment. A lot of people don’t have that amount sitting around and have to budget to save it. Since it takes us four months to build your new home, most of our buyers are able to save down payment money in that time period. We also have various Zero Down loans available for qualified buyers. If you want more information on those programs, please contact one of our Sales Offices. Our Sales Consultants will be able to tell you very quickly if you qualify for one of those programs.
-Meet with the Construction Manager
You will meet with your Construction Manager at least three times during the building process. He is a great educational resource for our buyers. Every wonder why we do what we do? He’ll be able to tell you!
-Go to closing!
The same last step: Signing on the dotted line and getting the keys to your future! Congratulations!
No stress. No worries. From extra inspections during construction to engineered steel rebar foundations to guaranteed heating & cooling costs, your Antares home will provide peace of mind.
Sometimes you just want that little bit more. Something extra. We get it. And we think that little bit more is peace of mind. With the hustle and bustle of life, you don’t need any more stress and worry than absolutely necessary. So we go out of our way to provide our customers with a worry-free experience. Let’s examine the ways:
Guaranteed Heating and Cooling. Seriously. Not Kidding. It’s a warranted item. Our 3098 square foot floor plan in Garden Heights is GUARANTEED to average 907.5 kWh/month to heat and cool. At a price of $0.084/kWh that’s $76.23 on average to run the HVAC. Incredible, and true.
Extra Inspections. We go above and beyond to get additional third party inspections on each home. We want to make sure that a second set of eyes has inspected our homes to catch mistakes we may have missed. The result? Fewer Warranty Requests from our Home Owners.
Rebar Foundation. Each foundation is tailored to the specific needs of each neighborhood. Did you know that Tarrant County soils can vary so much that a soils test in one neighborhood can yield completely different results when compared to another? We always take the most conservative approach with our foundations and it shows in our record with Bonded Builders — our Third Party Warranty Partner. We have been claims free on our foundations since the company was founded in 1998.
Graduate Master Builders. Astonishing as it may be, all of our Construction Managers that build our homes are Graduate Master Builders. Continuing education is vital for anyone who desires to be the best in their field. We are no different. Experience and education make a difference in the end product. We are very proud to have such a great team building our homes, and you will be too.
Top Notch Salespeople. Our Sales Team is the best in the business. Why? What’s different about them? They are highly trained in areas that make the most difference to our Customers. They are very knowledgeable about the latest loan programs for first time buyers, repeat buyers and credit challenged buyers. If there is a way to save you money and get you the Home of your Dreams, they can find it. They are most concerned with helping people, not selling people. And our Customer Service Surveys reflect their hard work.
And if you still want more, call one of our Sales Offices to find out what’s so special about their neighborhood!
Think you know how to repair your credit score? You’d be surprised at how easy it is to make it worse. Best advice: Talk to an expert before you take any action. There are plenty of dos and don’ts when it comes to credit repair.
Photo Credit: money-for-single-moms.com
Sorry for yelling STOP in all upper caps but this topic is way too important to let slide. A prospective home buyer–let’s call her “Melanie”–just stopped by one of our sales offices to share some exciting news. Turns out she’s been trying to repair her credit score on her own. (Insert big “oh, no” here.) Ms. Melanie said her credit score (pulled just two months ago) was only 20 points short of qualifying for a loan. She had taken on the challenge to boost her score and proudly announced, “I’ve been paying on some old stuff.” (Insert another “oh, no” and throw in a sigh.)
So what’s the big deal?
The problem is that credit repair is very tricky these days. Recent credit items are more important than old debt, and most lenders can overlook some dings to your credit if they occurred a long time ago. Believe it or not, paying on an old debt breathes new life into that carcass and makes it show up on your credit report as a recent item. This can cause your score to tank.
No one told Melanie to do this. Despite a consultation with Marcy Rutherford, a veteran sales counselors who is very knowledgeable in credit repair, Melanie didn’t take her advice. The result is that Melanie may very well have set herself back over 100 points! This will take a very long time to undo.
Please take a lesson from our unfortunate friend and stop working on your own credit. We can help! Just call one of our Sales Offices and make an appointment to find out more about our Credit Watchers Program. Call toll free: 1-800-Antares (800-268-2737) or choose your favorite neighborhood and phone number from this list.
