American Housing Builders, Inc

White reflects light and heat, right? Well, yes, but it is not that simple– not yet anyway. Can a white roof be attractive? They look pretty good down here in the Pinellas/Manatee county area of Florida’s subtropics– maybe not so suitable for Wisconsin, though. But it needn’t be white to be reflective… really!

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu’s off-beat idea of painting roofs white all across America is an initiative he has been promoting eagerly, the Voice of AmericaNews.com reported Sept. 21. Now he wants white roofs all over the world. That won’t be easy in countries with thatched roofs. Chu is President Obama’s Nobel prize-winning green guru. So, what’s with the white fetish?

A coat of white paint on a roof can lower both carbon emissions and cost, Chu has contended. The concept he espouses is this: as sunlight beams down on us, roughly half the energy shines as light. The light heats our rooftops. If the roof is white, the sunlight will reflect off the roof instead of heating the roof’s surface. By reducing the need for energy that cools our homes and offices, tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions could be saved, slowing global warming.

… Chu doesn’t mention is the fact that a high-tech roofing product—now several years after being developed–has revolutionized the building industry, according to a report from the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It consists of reflective pigments that make a dark roof reflect almost like a white roof. “To homeowners, dark roofs simply look better than…white roofs,” and the “aesthetically pleasing dark roof can be made to reflect like a white roof in the near infrared spectrum,” assured the 2004 report.

Read The Whole Story Here
Via:http://www.smartbrief.com/

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Florida is one of the few states in which few insurance companies compete for your home insurance policy. This really changes the online insurance selection game.

Outside of Florida in states where there are hundreds of companies to choose from for homeowners insurance, these quote generator websites are usually helpful. They do your research and you’ll have a lot of low cost options to consider.

Getting quotes for Florida home insurance presents a totally different situation when it comes to using these websites.

To begin with, unlike in other states, Florida has a lot fewer companies to choose from since only about 40 home insurance companies are writing new business. In addition, you should know that these Florida home insurance companies pay the quote generator websites for each lead that is provided to them. In reality what is happening is that the Florida insurance companies are paying the quote generator websites for the higher search engine rankings their sites have in order to reach more customers.

Read The Whole Story Here
Via: http://www.crossmagazine.com/
Thanks:Alex Bhaswara

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The following compact article from which I have quoted contains five steps for new construction home builder should follow. The first two steps, which are 1. Plan your budget and 2. Choose a location, would at first appear to be strictly personal decisions and analysis that the prospective buyer should make on his own. But a new home construction contractor may have many insights and much experience local to the Tampa Bay and Pinellas County area that you as a “civilian” could not be expected to have. Take advantage of our experience and insights! Call Us– we’re the experts in The Tampa Bay/Pinellas area!

Florida custom home builders offer many homeowners the chance of a lifetime: the opportunity to build their dream home. Of course, like any investment on this large a scale, it is necessary to take certain steps to make sure you do it right, and to make sure the end result is really the dream home you set out to get.

But don’t let this scare you into not pursuing the perfect home. Hiring Florida custom home builders and building your dream home can be easier than you might think, if you break it down into a to-do list. Here are five steps you need to take in order to build your dream home.

Read the whole story.
via:http://homes-design.com/

This article advocates, among other things,  doing your own footwork and investigation of the neighborhoods in which you intend to build a new home, and contacting those new home builders in Tampa Bay area whose construction impresses you favorably. At this point, how the contractors’ representatives treat you is probably a good indication of the kind of experience you will have. Particularly important is the ability and willingness of the prospective construction teams to answer your questions. Call us– we’re the friendly experts in The Tampa bay/Pinellas County area!

When it comes to building your new Florida home, not all builders are created equal. If you have decided to build a new home in Florida, it is very important that you choose the right home builder for the job. Ideally, you will want to find a home builder with experience, references, a great product, and a great price.

Read the whole story.

Via: http://www.nowiwant.com/to-know/

Most of our agitation when closing an important financial process like new home construction comes from being unprepared or less-than-knowledgeable. A little prep and education can make everything feel a lot smoother.

Closing on a new home can produce anxiety in many home buyers. There is much to do in preparation of closing day, and sometimes this process can seem a bit overwhelming. But there are several things that a home buyer can do before it is time to close on their Florida home that will make the whole process a lot easier and less stressful.

Read the whole article here.

This article helps to clarify the issues one must consider before embarking on the search for a vacant lot for building a new home. As counties in the Tampa Bay area build up, so-called “infill” becomes the dominant mode for new construction– particularly in Pinellas County, Florida‘s densest in population.

Next ensure that the lot you are considering meets the requirements for the building you are considering. What is the setback from the road? Are there any easements that are carried over to the lot that need to be considered? What is the maximum footprint your home can have in relation to the lot? All of these questions need to be approved by the municipality prior to construction. It would be wise to make inquiries prior to construction to determine that your home plan is appropriate for the lot you are considering.

Read the whole article here: Suite101: Vacant Land: For New Home Construction

Via: Suite101

By Joel Nash

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5 Reasons Homeownership Trumps Renting

A recent article posted on FloridaRealtors.org pointed to five reasons why it is better to buy and own a home than it is to rent a home. By owning your own home, you become your own landlord, by owning your own home your home comes an investment for your future, by owning your own home your fixed rate mortgage may actually allow your monthly payments to be less than if you were renting, and by owning your own home you can live in a better neighborhood with better schools.

Click here to read the entire article at FloridaRealtor.org.

Original Source: The New York Times, Ron Lieber (08/27/2010)

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Buyers of new construction potentially have it easier than those of older homes; there are none of the inevitable problems of wear, tear, and obsolescence. Aging can be accelerated in peninsular Florida because of the sunshine, heat, humidity and sub-tropical pests. (The Tampa Bay area, including Pinellas and Hillsborough, Manatee and Pasco counties are in the bio-region of South Florida, according to the AHS.)
But a new house, however “cutting edge” in construction, has not been “road-tested”, and the buyer to some degree is depending on the reputation of the builder. Many people prefer to work with a real estate agent of their own choosing.

3. Check out the Builder’s Reputation
If a buyer has a bad experience with a builder, word spreads rapidly throughout a community. However, accurately and fairly assessing a builder’s history is the appropriate path- check public records for lawsuits or complaints and evaluate their resolutions.

Read the rest of the article here. Via: RisMedia

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There may be better reasons for investing in new construction in Florida than some other regions– current building materials and techniques are lightyears beyond what they were even twenty years ago, which is even more important in Florida’s demanding climate than it might be in more temperate zones. The following is an excerpt from an article which makes a pretty strong case for new construction down here in Florida.

Older homes may have smaller kitchens that contain old, outdated appliances. Cracked linoleum or tile flooring may need replacement, fixtures may be old and stained, and cabinetry that is either deteriorating due to age or inferior quality will need to be replaced. If you build a new Florida home, your kitchen will be luxuriously appointed with all of the latest appliances, cabinetry and fixtures. Appliances are brand new and top of the line.

Read the rest of the article here. Via: QB Blog

Insurance of any kind is something you invest in and hope you never have to use, right? The same thing can be said of a “Safe Room,” which can be a lifesaver for your family in Florida’s sometimes severe weather circumstances– or even as an anti-crime security strategy. But unless you are unlucky, a Safe Room will be simply peace of mind in an uncertain world. In any case,  it is a feature to consider when planning new construction in the Tampa Bay area, or even when weighing building a new home against buying an existing house.

These rooms can be separate or can be some part of the home, like a walk-in closet, which is built like the proverbial brick-stick house. They need to be isolated from the main structure so that as the main home becomes unglued and turns into countless fragments, this little oasis of space remains unscathed.

Above ground safe rooms are generally best in high water table states (such as Florida) and are usually built of reinforced, solidly poured masonry walls, and poured concrete ceilings (set just below the trusses). It is less expensive and much simpler to build while constructing a new home.

Read the whole article here. (Via ConstructionOmega)

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In a May 18, 2010 story written by Teresa Burney at Builderonline, it is noted that April housing starts were up 5.8% compared to March and up 40.9% compared with April 2009 according to the Commerce Department’s monthly residential construction report. Single-family starts were up 10.2% month over month, to a seasonally adjusted level of 593,000.

Compared with April 2009, all of the regions throughout the U.S. saw increases: the Northeast was up 66%; the Midwest, 25%; the South, 59.6%; and the West, 3.5%, all on a year-over-year-basis.

In terms of future construction, total building permits hit a seasonally adjusted level of 606,000 units, which is 11.5% lower than the previous month, but on an annual basis, April’s overall building permits were 15.9% above the same month one year ago.

So, after all of the negative news we have been hearing over the past few years, it seems as though there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel for builders and consumers. Hopefully, this is the beginning of a continuing trend back to normalcy.

Click here to read more at builderonline

We at American Housing never underestimate the power of a woman. We have invested a lot of time in trying to get the female perspective on our homes. While we feel, as a company, that we are very talented and know how to build a quality home, we don’t want to overlook the realities of what a woman looks for in a home. We feel it is important to try and anticipate the needs of a family at a more personal and detailed level, and feel that a woman seems to come naturally equipped with that perspective.

In 2007, the Women’s Council of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) showed that women played a major role in up to 90 percent of home purchases and we consider that quite impressive. In talking to women who have purchased our homes, we have learned that one of their major concerns in purchasing a new home to be built, was that they wanted to know what their home was going to look like when it was finished. They wanted to know how the style of their home was going to look, from the roofline to the individual rooms. During construction, she wanted to be involved in the building process so that she could be sure that her vision would be realized.

American Housing saw that there was a need for a woman’s touch in our homes, and because of that, we wanted to create a home with a layout and style that a woman would expect in her home. We want to feel certain that American Housing’s homes are functional for both men and women and feel that a woman’s point of view is vital to accomplish that goal.