HearthStone Homes Floorplan Review - Albright
One of HearthStone Homes’ most recent additions to their lineup of floor plans is a simple 2-garage 3 bedroom/2 bath 1497 square-foot ranch that they’ve named the Albright.
Sitting at the entry point for HearthStone Homes’ mid-priced Gallery collection, the Albright is relatively inexpensive, with a base price around the mid $130’s, depending on the subdivision, lot premium and elevation.
When looking at the plan from overhead, the Albright has a recognizably square shape, which saves HearthStone Homes (and hopefully you) some money. Framing costs on a house increase substantially when you start designing little alcoves and pop-outs from the main house. A perfectly square house is the cheapest kind of house to produce from a framer’s point of view.
The L-shaped kitchen is medium-sized, with a minimum of counter space and a small pantry. The lack of counter space means the kitchen island option would be a necessary upgrade for someone who plans to spend any time in this area. The eating area is strictly informal, with only space for a small kitchen table in the breakfast nook. Due to the lack of storage space in the kitchen, adding the available wall of cabinets upgrade for around $3000 would be a good idea.
The open floor plan means the kitchen flows into the good-sized great room, which will probably be the main “hang out” of the Albright’s occupants.
Directly off the great room lies the master bedroom. While not extravagant by any means, it is large enough to encompass a king-sized bed and two nightstands with no problem. The large walk-in closet is accessible from the master bedroom which, for some people, is a design flaw. I don’t think I’m alone in saying that most people would rather access the closet from the master bathroom, which allows for a quick shower-to-dress experience, instead of having to re-enter the master bedroom after a shower to access the closet to select your clothes.
Bathrooms
Although the master bathroom is a full bathroom, sadly it does not feature a separate toilet area from the rest of the master bathroom, which limits usability in the morning rush to get ready for the day. A combination shower/bath is a standard feature from HearthStone Homes. For approximately $1000 more, you can replace the linen closet with a shower and replace the shower/tub combo with a regular soaking tub. For about an additional $1000, the soaking tub can be upgraded to a whirlpool tub with several jets. Counter space can be hard to find in the Albright’s master bathroom if you choose the dual-sink option. Counter space is even harder to find in the second bathroom, which is also a full bathroom.
Odds and Ends
The laundry facilities are located near the two bedrooms at the front of the house, which gives the illusion of a drop-zone.
Unfortunately for buyers, depending on how they furnish the entry to the house, it appears to be almost a complete waste of space - that you’re still paying for.
The stairs to the basement are in the middle of the floor plan. HearthStone Homes offers a basement finishing option that will set you back between $7000 and $10000, depending on the model you’re working with. The Albright has a very nicely sized basement, coming in at 833 square feet.
One problem some people had with HearthStone Homes’ ranch home offerings is that although there appeared to be four different floor plans, there were really only two, each of which has a version with a bonus room on an upper floor. Those models have since been discontinued. The Albright’s more spacious counterpart used to be the Durand, which had a 400 foot alcove space above the main floor.
It is important to remember when you’re having a new home built, especially a HearthStone Home or a Celebrity Home, that the way your lot looks when you first walk it may not be how it turns out when you take possession. Mass builders tend to grade severely to control the water flow between their more tightly-packed houses. What appears to be a flat lot when you start building may not end up as a flat lot when the house is finished. Ensure that any concerns you have regarding the features of your lot are spelled out in the purchase contract, and have that contract looked over by a lawyer if you are in any way uncomfortable with the process.
Remember - for 99% of the population, a house is the biggest purchase they will ever make.
It’s your money, make sure you get what you want and you know what you’re getting
Omaha Home Builder John Barrett Adjusts To A Slower Omaha Housing Market
For a while, Omaha home buyers couldn’t get enough of Omaha home builders’ offerings in the $250,000 to $500,000 range. Then came the slowdown…
…but before the slowdown started, John Barrett of Barr Homes felt that he had identified an underserved niche in a price range lower than his $250,000 Barr Homes. With HearthStone Homes and Celebrity Homes seemingly dominating the under-$200,000 Omaha housing market price point, John Barrett felt that solidly-built custom homes priced between $190,000 and $230,000 would be in demand.
When John Barrett formulated the plans for this company, he knew that labor and material costs were too high at that point to keep the homes in the right price range - so ProLine Homes was shelved for a while. However, when the slowdown became apparent in 2006, labor and material costs dropped enough to make ProLine Homes a financial possibility.
During 2006, John Barrett built five ProLine homes. In 2007, he built 33.
The more expensive Barr Homes weren’t doing as well, with only 48 sold in 2006 and 26 sold in 2007. According to John Barrett:
We went from doing 20 to 24 houses in a six-month period down to eight in a six-month period. Maybe God saved me, but our ProLine kicked in to fill in the gap.
While ProLine sales are promising so far in 2008, John Barrett still is being conservative for 2008. He originally planned to build and sell a total of 80 to 90 ProLine and Barr Homes, but recently cut that number to 60. He has not yet reduced his work force but might if he doesn’t sell enough homes by July to meet his overhead.
Adding to Omaha home builders’ difficulties is the fact that a few banks have tightened the definition of “pre-sold.” During the Omaha housing boom, one or two of the banks John Barrett worked with would grant a loan to start construction if the home sale was conditioned upon the buyer selling his or her existing home. Today, according to John Barrett, those banks are accepting only “clean contracts,” or contracts with no contingencies.
Omaha Home Builder Sudbeck Homes to Auction Properties
If you look at the Omaha housing market, you’ll see that there are currently about 7,800 houses for sale in the Omaha area and almost 20,000 lots for sale on which to build. Competition between Omaha home builders is tight and some home builders are looking for new ways to generate interest in their properties.
As many Omaha home builders tighten their belt and look for ways to either reduce costs or increase sales, Omaha home builder Melvin Sudbeck is taking the step of putting several of his properties up for auction.
Sudbeck homes is auctioning nine model homes and two lots.
According to P.J. Morgan Real Estate agent Tom Zoucha, who will help sell the Sudbeck properties:
Folks come to us because, generally, we can get pretty good results with auction method. It’s a great way to target your property for the entire market. Then, of course, you’re setting when and where it sells, how it sells, and you get money back to work faster.
While some homeowners worry about foreclosures and auctions bringing a lot of new homes onto the market and reducing comparable prices for their area, the sale could also be a good thing for homeowners by reducing market supply and giving sellers an accurate picture of the market. While auction prices often start out low to generate interest, the houses that have been auctioned off in other parts of the United States have usually sold for fairly close to what the home builder was asking for them.
As long as the auction is a true auction, without reserve prices, potential home buyers in the Omaha area could see some good deals on a new home through this auction.
The Sudbeck Homes property auction will start on the 13th of May at 7 at night at the Comfort Inn Conference Center at 7007 Grover Street. Buyers are responsible for financing and, if a bid is won, the buyer is required to make a non-refundable 5% deposit.
Sudbeck Homes
From the “Why Choose Us” section on the Sudbeck Homes website:
Sudbeck Homes is a well respected home building team dedicated to providing a high quality home at a competitive price. We pride ourselves in exceeding the expectations of our homebuyers.
Sudbeck Homes specializes in custom-built homes offering a wide variety of proven base plans as well as utilizing an in-house design team accustomed to tailoring to the individual needs of its customers.
Our skilled team of craftsmen are dedicated to transforming your lifestyle and budget into a house you’ll be proud to call home.
Sudbeck Homes builds custom homes starting in the $140’s and offers a broad inventory of completed homes throughout the Omaha metropolitan area. In addition to serving the Omaha metro area market, we build in many other local communities such as Blair, Elkhorn, Gretna, Plattsmouth, Springfield, Bennington, and Wahoo. We also proudly construct homes in the outlying countryside including acreage settings.
Regency Homes Owner Talks About Omaha Housing Market
As many of you watching the housing market in Omaha and the rest of the United States know, the last few years in the homebuilding market have been hard ones. Times are a bit lean for the crowded Omaha home building market and Omaha home builders who, in the past, didn’t look ahead and prepare for today’s downturn were courting disaster.
Just recently, in February of 2008, Gateway Homes filed for bankrupcy, leaving over 140 creditors holding the bag and wondering how exactly they were going to get paid for work they did for that homebuilder. While that case is working its way through the legal system, both people who paid for a new Gateway home and people who actually contracted with Gateway Homes are now realizing the folly in not researching the financial details and background of the Omaha home builder that you’re dealing with.
While new home sales numbers in the Omaha area aren’t terrible, Regency Homes owner Dennis Van Moorleghem, who has a good sense of old-time PR but hasn’t taken advantage of the advantages that the Internet has to offer, has stated that Regency Homes has taken steps to get through the lean times.
By doing what most other smart home builders in the Omaha area are doing, and reducing the amount of spec homes they put on a slow market, Regency Homes is definitely on the right track to staying in business.
According to Dennis Van Moorleghem:
Normally, we’d run 50 to 60 houses - specs. We’re down to about 18.
If you look at the past market upswings and downturns, you’ll notice that after every slowdown a new “buyer” comes forward to bring a new focus to what homebuilders build. According to Van Moorleghem:
It’s going to be a whole new buyer and everybody in the country is trying to figure it out.
Regency Homes is betting that in 2009 - when the market is expected to rise again - the new home buyer in Omaha will want a smaller, more energy-efficient home that sells for less than $250,000 but doesn’t skimp on the extra features that new home buyers expect.
They want granite. They want stone. They want fireplaces.
With today’s low interest rates and ample inventory available to choose from in the Omaha market, buyers are in the driver’s seat. Despite that, local builders have gone on record saying that they expect the market to bottom out in fall of 2008 and that 2009 will be the turnaround year.
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