SYNRGYdesign

As an instructor, I’ve seen many new softwares come and go.  In architecture, there has always been a divide between 2D drafting and 3D modeling.  For many years now the industry has been using AutoCAD for it’s 2D drafting needs.  It has become an industry standard.  Everyone uses it.  All the consultants use it.  Firms have spent thousands of dollars on equipment, training, and software to have it in their offices.  But with the acquisition of Revit byAutodesk a few years back, we are now seeing the combination of 2D and 3D together.There have always been 3D modeling software to use.  For the past 10 years, the use of 3D modeling programs has risen.  Many of the 3D modeling software programs out there have become more sophisticated.  There has always been a line between 2D and 3D modeling.  3D has always been viewed as an extra.  It was something that would give the client some nice pictures to visualize the spaces.  2D was what got the building built.  It was the real set of working drawings.  But that is no longer the case.  With the advent of Building Information Modeling, we are now seeing a mingling of the 2 formats.Building Information Modeling is a fancy way of saying it’s a smart 3D model.  No longer are we restricted to just drawing some lines and then hoping the contractor understands what they are.  A BIM model is drawn as if it were being built.  There is a knowledge of the materials being used, and the sizes.  We are no longer able to wait for decisions on certain things until the end.  Clients need to decide some things ahead of time now in order to be able to do the drawings.  If anything like the last 3 or 4 years are an indication of what is to come - BIM is here to stay.  It has taken over architecture as we know it and is transforming it into a world of “smart” models. 

Many people like to believe that being GREEN costs them more money.  Yes there was a time when recycled products, environmentally friendly materials where a little more expensive as an initial cost but the benefits where seen in the life cycle cost of the product or material.  That can still be true for certain things.  But for many things now, being GREEN isn’t expensive anymore or just for eccentric people who grew up in the 70’s.  Being GREEN can actually save you money.  Here are a few tips on how choosing environmentally friendly materials can save you money.

1. Reusable Water Bottle - buy a big jug of water or better yet use a filter system on your tap water and just fill up a reusable water bottle.  You won’t be spending extra money on individualized water bottles and you’ll save the landfills.

2. New Larger washer and dryer - many of the newer washer and dryers are also larger.  The front loading washer and dryers are a lot bigger then some of the older ones, more energy efficient.  They can handle larger loads which means less time doing laundry for you and more money saved on electricity and water from not having to do more loads.

3. Reuse old birthday and christmas cards by turning them into homemade postcards.  It will save you money and allow you to keep in touch with friends and family member you haven’t talked to in a while.

4. Use Refillable Soap Bottles.  Not only are they foam soaps fun for kids - if you buy a soap bottle of a favorite character they like, it will make them more likely to wash their hands and reduce the chances of them getting sick.  The less they are sick, the less time you have to bring them to the doctors, and the happier everyone will be.

These are just a few tips.  If you did a Google search, you’ll find a lot more tips from people.  Many people have found a great way to find new use of old products.  Using environmentally friendly products and materials not only will help the environment but it will help everyone live just a little bit happier.

SIGG celebrated it’s 100 year anniversary last year.  Many people are surprised to learn they have been around for 100 years.  SIGG  started in 1908 in Switzerland by Ferdinand Sigg.  In 2005, SIGG  launched a USA subsidiary based in Stamford, CT.  Since it’s introduction to the US, many people here are surprised to learn how old the company is.  You have to ask your self why?

We in the US are not very good at being as some of our European counterparts.  The whole environmentally friendly, green movement is to some a relatively new idea.  And sadly to say to many an after thought that shouldn’t interfere with ones daily routine.  We have grown accustomed to our conveniences  and the disposable water bottle is one of them.  Many people pick them up by the case load only to come back every week to get another.  It’s only been in recent years have we started think about all those water bottles in the landfills.  

The SIGG  water bottle is an environmentally friend, rolls royce water bottle.  And the great thing about them is that they come in many different designs and colors.  Now you have to pay for the best and SIGG  is probably one of the best out there.  There are many that you can buy that are a lot less but there is something about the SIGG  water bottles.  It’s like the Ipod of water bottles.  In 1993,  SIGG  was incorporated into the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York.  It is an art piece for water bottles and because it’s an art piece you won’t be as likely to throw it away as much as you would the disposable bottles.  The only problem you’ll have is finding the right SIGG  design that fits your personality.  Of course you could be like me and just keep asking for different ones every time Christmas comes along.

That’s the question on everyone’s mind who is thinking about, planning, currently in the market for, or just plan speculating on real estate.  Most people will agree that it isn’t the time to be SELLING a house right now if you don’t have to.  Unfortunately, many people are stuck in the position where they have to sell.  So that’s good if you are a buyer.  You never know when you will hit the bottom of the housing prices until they start going up again.  20/20 always works best after you’ve passed something by.  But many people are always asking and speculating on if it’s the right time to buy a house?

If you frequent any of the real estate forums, you know there has been some great discussion on when is the best time to buy.  People get into heated debates on how long the down fall will last and when and how to time it just right.  This of course like many other things is just pure speculation.  No one knows for sure when the bottom will come.  No one can predict when the buyer’s market will start turning to a seller’s market.  We can speculate and with fair certainty that we won’t have the boom that happened from 2002 to 2006.  Housing prices won’t sky rocket with the benefit of low interest rates and shade loans anymore.  We have hopefully learned from that mistake.  But the question still remains when is the right time to buy?

It will all depend on your situation.  If you are a home buyer who wants to stay there a long time, i.e 10 years or so, and you find something you really love and it feels like the right house and right neighborhood for you then that is the right time to buy.  If you are planning on trying to take advantage of one of these foreclosed home deals and pick up a house really cheap with the intent of trying to flip it for more then what you paid and put into it, then good luck with you and hopefully you researched everything before you get into it.  Now is probably not the time to flip homes unless you really know what you are doing and are certain you are getting the house for 50% below market value.  Otherwise, the days of being able to flip a house and get quick cash out after 2 months of work are probably gone for the inexperienced flippers.  Really, the right time to buy, is when you feel its right for you.  It all depends on your situation.  Looking at what other people are doing and trying to get a house before someone else snatches it up is what got us into this mess in the first place.  Taking your time and really feeling comfortable with your purchase should be what drives your decision.  Not whether or not you are buying at the total bottom of the market.

our home inspection was today.  we use an inspector that we’ve had inspect another house before.  he takes his time which is good.  the house does need a lot of work but it’s mostly updating and upgrading stuff.  it has good bones and there’s a lot of potential.  we didn’t find out anything that would make us NOT purchase the house at this point.  who ever owned the house before just did weird things.

the water heater is missing - which was a surprise to us - but we didn’t really pay much attention when we walk thru the house the first time.  we new it needed a whole new kitchen and baths.  we were surprised to find it had some nice hardwood floors under the badly stained carpet.  hopefully the stains didn’t go all the way thru.  the house just wasn’t maintained or taken care of.  there’s a lot of holes in the walls, around the windows that they just stuffed tissue paper in.  it’s just weird.  they spent money on a tankless water heater - that they obviously took and a new garage door, but put paper to cover up the whole in the front door.  it makes you wonder who lived there.

So we put an offer on a bank owned house last week.  I didn’t really get my hopes up because we’ve put in an offer on another bank owned house last month and that didn’t go anywhere.  I figured if we got it great, if we didn’t we would just move on.  Each time we put in an offer, it’s a new learning experience for us especially when dealing with banks.  Well we found out today that the offer was accepted.  We didn’t even get a written statement saying they accepted, just a verbal from the listing agent.  I wonder if that’s normal.  Does bank owned give them the right to forgo some of the standard operating procedures of buying a house?

Our agent said that we are basically in escrow.  We’ve signed the acceptance offer and they say we will be closing on the 29th.  Short escrow but we don’t really care.  It’s definitely a fixer - bad carpet, stains everywhere, missing light fixtures, original everything - think pick bathtub and tiles!  I think most people got scared by the house.  Those that put in offers probably are contractors and flippers hoping to make some money.  It’s in a good neighborhood and a huge lot so there is a lot of potential.  Remember, we always look at the potential of the house - not the cosmetics. 

That being said, I didn’t really think they would accept our offer.  I thought we were just going thru the exercise and they would come back like the last one at a ridiculously high price or say someone else was offering more and we’d walk away.  I’m a little shocked they accepted our offer.  Actually they came back after our first offer and asked for our best final offer.  Which I still don’t understand.  If we put in an offer to begin with wouldn’t that be our best and final offer?  Are they telling us there are other offers and but can’t tell us the price?  That part I never understood and don’t think I ever will.  So now I guess the real saga of home buying begins as we go thru the escrow process.  Hopefully there is a light at the end of the tunnel!

We’ve been looking for 6 months now.  I’ve found a few good real estate websites.  We used to really only useZiprealty.  But lately I’ve found myself liking Redin.  Both websites allow you to save favorite homes that you’d like to keep track of.  Both can put you in touch with a realtor to see houses in person if you find one on the internet.  We used Ziprealty when we bought our first house.  Not to buy but just to find what houses where available and the going prices for them in the neighborhoods we were looking at.  I’ve been checking the listings daily.  Although I’m not sure how quickly they list new homes, they both seem to list them with in a day of the house hitting MLS.  I’ve also found myself on a number of realtors email listings from the various open houses we’ve gone to.  It’s been a weekly ritual on the weekends to see where the open houses are.  

Unfortunately, the buyers market doesn’t seem to be in the areas we want a house.  Or should I say we just are looking in areas that may not be immediately feeling the buyers market.  It’s not that prices are going up.  On the contrary, prices are definitely going down.  It’s just their isn’t the inventory out there in the area we want.  It seem like the same homes are still for sale.  The same open houses every weekend.  I’m not sure if it’s the holidays, or if the whole freeze on foreclosures has affected the market, but there definitely aren’t as many homes on the market as we would like.  

Sure there are certain areas where there are a ton of homes for sale.  But we aren’t looking in those areas.  So I have to wonder, exactly when will the inventory start coming up.  I keep hearing that there will be a flood of homes.  I just haven’t seen them.  We seen a few REO and short sales.  We’ve even made an offer on one but backed out when they wanted more then we would go.  I hear horror stories of people buying foreclosures and short sales; about how the drag on and on and on.  If banks want to sell a house why don’t they just put it on the market.  I just don’t understand.  At least put something on so we can have something different to look at.  In the meantime, the home buying saga continues…

As a potential home buyer in a buyers market, I always wonder why it has to be such a process.  I’ve only bought 2 other homes in the past 8 years so I don’t have as much experience.  Our first home purchase was pretty easy.  I really don’t remember it being such a process.  We put in an offer right before our wedding.  Escrow started just days before our wedding and with us leaving for our honeymoon.  We scrambled to do the home inspection before we left.  I remember we cam back and signed the papers and somehow, somewhere, we got the keys to the house.  Our first house was a fixer.  It used to be a rental and it still had everything original from when it first was built.  Ironically it was the same age as Jon.  I don’t remember even turning on the utilities.  I remember the first night we had the keys, we went to the house to change the locks and take a look at it.  I remember almost getting locked in the garage but that’s about it.  The whole process of buying the house seemed relatively simple.

Fast forward 8 years and 2 kids later, the process isn’t quite so simple.  Just looking at houses now is very different.  We have 2 kids to think about.  8 years ago we weren’t thinking about school district or lot size.  We just wanted to get a house so we could be out on our own.  There was something about being married and having a house that seemed to fit together.  Now I’ve spent months researching schools and school districts.  I’ve tried to figure out the school boundaries and looked through dozens of forums to try to find out which school is good and which neighborhoods feed into those schools.  Something I didn’t do 8 years ago.

A year ago, we bought a house with my parents, in a really nice neighborhood and good schools.  After having spent probably 6 months of looking at houses on the internet and in different cities, it was nice to finally settle down.  Of course I should have known better.  Things happened, people changed, needless to say, we had to move again after 7 months.  I was back to looking at schools, neighborhoods, and packing up.  I was starting to get the hang of the packing, but the actual moving part wasn’t easy.  So we decided to find a place near work so that we wouldn’t be too far from the kids when they’re at school.  The housing markets in our favor and since we didn’t want to rush into anything, we decided to rent.

Since we are temporarily renting a house now to get a feel for the area, I’ve sort of had a dry run when it comes to setting up utilities and such.  It’s not always the easiest thing to do as one might think.  Also, since we had to move to the rental, I’ve had a taste of what it’s like to move with 2 kids.  Definitely not easy but can be accomplished with some help.  But all of that is just the prep work for the whole house buying saga.  We’ve been looking now for 6 months and the whole process hasn’t even started.  We’ve barely gotten our foot in the doors.  So I guess that’s where the house buying saga continues…

When buying a house, many people look at different things.  The most common parts of a house that people look at when they tour a house are the finishes, the carpet, the kitchen, the appliances, the layout, and how it’s currently staged.  As anyone who’s watched HGTV, you know that staging plays a big role in how a home is presented and how fast it can “hook” a buyer.  Since it’s a buyers market right now, with many more short sales and bank owned homes on the market, not many homes are being staged.  Most bank owned homes are in disrepair, many having been cleaned out by the previous owner who more then likely has been evicted from the house.  So if a house isn’t staged, what’s left to “hook” a buyer?  A lot of bank owned houses tend to scare many home buyers away - especially if they aren’t interested in doing a lot of fixing or remodeling.  But the best deals out there are the bank owned houses and if you can get past the old countertops and bad carpet, you might just find a diamond in the rough.  So what should you look at?  Here are a few things to keep in mind when walking through a house.

1. Location - you’ve all heard this before - Location, Location, Location.  You can’t change the houses location unless you buy another piece of property somewhere and then decide to move the house to that new lot (which won’t be cheap!)  Concentrate on the area you want to live in.  Drive around the neighborhood at different times during the day and week.  See what it’s like going to work in the morning from their and coming home at night.  Check out the neighborhood during the weekends and if you can during the holidays - halloween, christmas, etc.  See if this is a place you can feel comfortable in during all seasons of the year not just the day that you look at it.

2. Size of Lot - land will always be in limited supply and unless you can buy your neighbor’s house, the extra piece of land will be hard to come by.

3. Location of house on the lot - it’s not cheap to move a house and if the house you are looking at is too far towards the back, as many older homes are, and you don’t want a huge front yard, then a house with a big front yard probably isn’t for you; unless you plan on adding on towards the front of the house and the city/county codes and ordinances will allow for it.

4. Layout of rooms - especially the public versus private spaces.  Many older homes didn’t have the open concept floor plan that many people like today.  Look to see if the rooms have a good separation, if the bedrooms are all on one side and the public spaces (kitchen, living room, family room) are on the other side.  Try to imagine how you could open up the rooms while still keeping a nice separation between the public and the private.

5. Character / Style of the house - unless you plan on total demolishing the house, you have to like how it looks on the outside.  Even if you plan on remodeling later or adding on, you should keep in the style of the original house.  Curb appeal is important but the house may not have it at the time when you walk thru especially if it’s been neglected.  Drive around and see other homes in the neighborhood that look similar and see what other people have done.  You want to keep in the style of the house and also the neighborhood.

Many bank owned homes may not have the curb appeal or be staged to “hook” you as the buyer when you walk thru the house.  What you need to look at is the Potential of the house.  Imagine what it can be once you get thru with it.  Fixers can be expensive.  You can  end up spending a lot of money trying to fix the house as opposed to just buying something that is already done.  But you get the satisfaction of fixing it to meet your needs and your liking instead of living with something someone else has done and wishing they had done it differently.  The beauty with bank owned homes is the price tag usually will allow you to do the fixes without feeling like your putting more money into it then you should have.  And remember while your fixing it up, you can also make it more of a green house then it was before which will help you save money and add value to your house later should you decide to sell it.

Now that we are in the buying process of real estate; I always wonder what it is that other people look at in a house, what are they looking for and what are their opinions when they walk thru a house.  I’ve never sold a house.  I helped my parents sell their house last year and tried to “fix” it up so that it was presentable.  It was always a fixer but something that was still move-in ready.  The appliance where 15 years old, there was hard wood floors, but the walls probably needed new paint.  It was priced right for the time and the area.  There where a lot of things that could have been “fixed” or upgraded to make the price hight but they also wanted to sell right away and didn’t want to put the effort into upgrading things.  The people who bought it where able to just move right in.

So when we go look at houses now, we kind of classify things as - fixer but need work right away, fixer but move in ready, work to be done as we live there, and total turn key - nothing needs to be done at all.  Now I think most people want the latter, a total turn key that they don’t need to do a thing too.  Sometimes I think I want that too.  But in reality, what we like are the fixers.  I know what we see when we look at a house, but I always wonder what other people see.

As the housing market slows down and there becomes an inventory for buyers too choose from.  It’s evident that buyers are taking there time and really looking at homes more closely.  Also, there are a lot of short sales and foreclosure/bank owned homes on the market.   Now more then ever, there are homes that fall in the fixer categories.  As buyers look at these fixers, the question for many as they walk thru is “is it even worth it to fix this house up?”.  Now as an architect, we don’t look at some of the typical things most home buyers look at when walking thru a house the first time.  From talking to many people, it seems that presentation, finishes, size and layout are the biggest things.  If you watch a lot of HGTV, you know that presentation and staging are what hook a lot of buyers.  

But we don’t look at those things when we walk a house.  We look at the size, the layout, the roof, the walls, the neighborhood, and most importantly the “potential” the house has.  We don’t really have must have list like most people.  There are certain things we require - minimum 3 bedrooms, good layout, as big a lot as possible, good school district and most importantly PRICE.  We don’t really look at the floor finish or the paint.  If the kitchen is out of date, so much the better.  All those things can be changed.  The thing we look at, besides the price, are things you really can’t change.  You can’t change the lot size.  Land isn’t  going to get cheaper.  You can’t change the school district.  You could probably add on another bedroom if you needed it but you would have to have the lot size to do it.  You can’t change the layout of the house that much unless you want to totally knock it down.  Price is negotiable now a days, more so then ever, but you can’t negotiate a million dollar home down to $500K.  Carpet, paint, appliances, even the doors and windows can all be changed.  You can do them right away or gradually.

The first house we bought was a fixer.  It was move in condition but everything was still original to the house.  It took us 8 years but we did eventually change most of the things in the house.  The only thing left to do to it would be the windows and the guest bathroom - and even that would probably only require a new tub.  As a home buyer in todays market, you shouldn’t feel turned off by some of these foreclosures that seem like “a lot of work.”  The potential of a house is what is often over looked by many.  If you can see the potential, there may be a lot more homes on your list then you think.