According to the latest figures from the U.S. Commerce Department, nationwide housing production hit its strongest pace in the last six months this January, posting a 2.8% gain to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000 units.

"Builders are starting to see the positive impacts of home buyer tax credits and other favorable buying conditions in terms of consumer demand, and are cautiously increasing production to meet that demand," said National Association of Home Builders Chairman Bob Jones.

Read more at RISMedia.

Posted in Real Estate Market Conditions, Real Estate Industry, New Home Builders, National News

Good upkeeping is essential to retaining a quality home, and repairs can be costly, especially if they've been neglected. Luckily most repairs, if done once a year at the best time, can be kept in-check.

Money magazine offers a listing of home maintenance tasks organized by the season with estimated costs so landlords and home owners can take care of their home properties.

Read more at CNNMoney.

Posted in Real Estate Industry, New Home Builders

On Friday, January 15, 2010 the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) waived the 90-day Flip Rule for one year, effective February 1.

A press release issued by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) stated that "FHA research finds that acquiring, rehabilitating and the reselling these properties to prospective homeowners often takes less than 90 days. Prohibiting the use of FHA mortgage insurance for a subsequent resale within 90 days of acquisition adversely impacts the willingness of sellers to allow contracts from potential FHA buyers because they must consider holding costs and the risk of vandalism associated with allowing a property to sit vacant over a 90-day period of time."

The waiver is limited to sales meeting specific conditions:

• All transactions must be arms-length, with no identity of interest between the buyer and seller or other parties participating in the sales transaction.
• In cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller's acquisition cost, the waiver will only apply if the lender meets specific conditions.
• The waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.

The waiver can be read in its entirety as a PDF from the HUD Web site.

Posted in Headlines, Real Estate Industry, New Home Builders, National News

BrokerIPTV: Today we are talking with Steve Brooks, owner of Brookstone Builders and Steve, welcome to the show.

Steve Brooks: All right.

BrokerIPTV: Glad you are here. Yeah.

Steve Brooks: I am glad to be here.

BrokerIPTV: Tell me about Brookstone Builders?

Steve Brooks: Well, I started about 10 years ago converting apartment building into condominiums and about four to five years ago, I decided to get into new construction. So, I started out with multi-family, duplexes, four-plexes those kind of things and now I've moved into custom single-family homes.

BrokerIPTV: Tell us about your design and your approach to custom homes?

Steve Brooks: Well, I spend a lot of time on design. To me, thats one of the most important features in a new home. You walk into a lot of homes and right away you just feel like a bad floor plan or just doesn't flow well or things like that. I personally I like to think of the home as if I was going to move into it myself. So, every feature, everything, every decision I am putting into that house, I have to look at it as if I am going to move into that house. I think in the end, you show a better product, if you think of that throughout the process of building a house, so,

BrokerIPTV: What sets you apart? How do I know I am walking into a Brookstone home?

Steve Brooks: Good question. First of all, I am proud to say that all my houses are built green, which we will talk a little about later in the interview, but secondly, I try to use very unique materials. I think a lot of homes you walk into you see the same materials. I like to say my homes are rustic contemporary; rustic meaning more like a Colorado field, slate instead of travertine, natural stained woods, wood beams, large timbers, use of interior stone, contemporary meaning like clean lines, clean trim, contemporary kitchen cabinets, those sort of things, so you get kind of a Denver feel, but also a mountain feel in the homes; thats really what I am looking for in the homes I build.

BrokerIPTV: The other thing is I really love your floor plans. I mean I am personally, somebody like me, I like an open floor plan. It's very open, very inviting. It flows very easy. I am sure you have gotten some of those comments from people who bought your homes and so forth. So, well done there. Is there anything new that people are talking about as far as floor plans these days?

Steve Brooks: Well, obviously new trends in building - outdoor kitchens are big. I put outdoor fire places, grills, those sort of things in all the homes I do now, because I think thats in high demand. As far as new trends in floor plans, I think definitely most people like finished basements. I finish all the basements that I do and its a great second area for people to recreate in and use. So, I have always done that, but like you said before, open floor plans are big. I like have the kitchen, the nook, family room, all those areas open to one space; sometimes you will see them kind of close off. I personally dont like that. I think it's more of a trend to do an open area. I also put wine rooms on all the main floors, which I think is kind of nice and in this price point, people like to have that sort of thing, so.

BrokerIPTV: We should mention, the price point is?

Steve Brooks: They range from 1.3 to 1.8, depending on which house it is, so.

BrokerIPTV: How do people find out more information about your homes?

Steve Brooks: Well, until I finish my website, which has been under construction for a while, they can email me at steve@brookstonebuilder.com or phone me at 303-709-2400.

BrokerIPTV: Steve, thanks.

Steve Brooks: Thank you Dan. I appreciate it.

BrokerIPTV: I appreciate having you.

Steve Brooks: Thanks for the opportunity.

Posted in Headlines, New Home Builders

BrokerIPTV: We are talking with Steve Brooks today from Brookstone Builders. Steve, welcome.

Steve Brooks: Thanks.

BrokerIPTV: Thanks for being here.

Steve Brooks: Thank you, Dan.

BrokerIPTV: We had you on earlier segment talking about your homes, but refresh that, refresh us a little bit. Brookstone Builders builds where and what?

Steve Brooks: Well, at the moment custom, single family homes in most of the downtown area; when I say downtown, Observatory Park, Hilltop at this point.

BrokerIPTV: Got you. What I want to talk about in this segment is you mentioned you like to build green, and a lot of people say that, but I don't think everybody understands what build green means. So, can you explain?

Steve Brooks: Well, first of all, most states have put together their own green building programs, Built Green Colorado is Colorado's specific program for this state. It has been around, it is one of the oldest programs in the nation. It's very reputable. A lot of other programs around the nation have really duplicated what we have done here in Colorado. Basically, what Built Green is, is its a way for builders to come up with a system for water efficiency, energy efficiency, natural resource efficiency in their building process. The way they do that is they award points for all sorts of different categories and they require a minimum of 75 points to be considered Built Green.

BrokerIPTV: Good. How many points typically is a Brookstone home?

Steve Brooks: You know I am always up-ing the ante. So, my most current home that I am about to complete will probably achieve about 250 points. So, but I am always looking for ways to improve that. Many of those points that I get don't necessarily cost more money; some of them do, but a lot of time it is just knowing how to put something in better or more efficient than what you have done before.

BrokerIPTV: Give me an example of a point in value, what you can you do to earn points?

Steve Brooks: Well, I will tell some of things I do in my homes, just so you have an idea. I put bamboo floors in all my homes; I get points for that. I use like you mentioned before recycled glass tile accents throughout the home. I put a 50 year roof on instead of a 20 year roof. Energy star appliances.

BrokerIPTV: The carpet?

Steve Brooks: There you go, yes, green labeled carpet. It can be recycled over and over again. I just started using that. I could go on, but those sorts of things are what you are looking for.

BrokerIPTV: Earn points.

Steve Brooks: Yes.

BrokerIPTV: Why go in this direction, because I imagine a builder out there could say, "Hey, listen, I am going to put this up is inexpensive as possible and sell it for the highest price as I could. Why go in this direction and the extra trouble"?

Steve Brooks: Right. Well, for me, I feel I have a moral responsibility. These homes that I am putting into service will probably be there for a minimum of 100 years and so in my opinion, you only have one chance to do it right.

BrokerIPTV: Lot of talk in the real estate industry about this LEED program, L-E-E-D; tell people what is LEED.

Steve Brooks: LEED is... well, first of all the home I am breaking ground on now would be LEED certified. LEED stand for Leadership in Energy and Efficient Design. Its a nationwide program. Up to now it has been mostly commercial, so you will see it in a lot of schools and city governments have headed that way into being LEED certified. This year, they just rolled it out for residential, so its a brand new program, very few homes in Colorado have even tried to be LEED certified up to this point. It actually is very similar to the Built Green program. In many ways, it overlaps that program, but in someway, this is more comprehensive. For example, they look at how far away are some of the materials you buy. They want it all to be within a 500 mile radius. They give you points for using recycled aggregate in your concrete. They put a lot of time and effort into how you dispose off your materials on the job site. You are going to divert a certain amount of those materials from the landfill. Those sort of things aren't really covered in Built Green. LEED does do that. So, in many ways, it is a little more comprehensive, so.

BrokerIPTV: And its a little bit more difficult on you the builder?

Steve Brooks: Very much so; yes, it is going to be challenging.

BrokerIPTV: So kudos to you for tackling that.

Steve Brooks: Thank you.

BrokerIPTV: I love the information. I love your homes. Thanks so much for being with us.

Steve Brooks: Thank you Dan. Appreciate it.

Posted in Headlines, Real Estate Industry, New Home Builders