If you have just bought a brand new home or are thinking about doing so, there is one concern that every homeowner needs to think long and hard about: Pet ownership. For those of you who already have a pet or have had a pet in the past, you probably already know about more than a few of the common concerns. Accidents and claw marks on the nice floors, fur in the carpets, and dander in the air ducts are all serious considerations, especially when you’re planning on protecting the value of a new home. Fortunately, homes were built to last and with only a few preventative and maintenance steps, you can ensure that you, your family, and your animal companions can all live comfortably together in the new place. All you need is a little forward thinking.
1) Choose a Safe Place for Food Bowls
For well-trained pets that already know how to behave in a home, the messiest part of pet ownership is often the area where you place the food and water bowls. Without hands, dogs and cats’ can’t pick up their food one bite at a time or sip their water. Food bits and droplets almost always hit the floor, sometimes together creating moist disintegrating food puddles. We can all agree you don’t want this to happen on carpet or wood floors. Choose a tiled or linoleum area for the food and water bowls, preferably in an out of the way place in the kitchen where messes are easy to clean up.
If you, like many parent homeowners, have just bought a new house to raise your kids in, no one is more excited than the children themselves. Moving to a new place is always a big experience for children, especially if they’re old enough to understand home ownership and the implications: No more landlords, and the freedom to modify the house however you want. Even if you managed to hold together things like bedtime, teeth brushing, and good behavior throughout the move, that first night surrounded by boxes in a brand new house is often more excitement than most kids can handle. Most likely, they’re bouncing off the walls, eager to unpack boxes, explore the house, and in general chattering up a storm. Let’s face it, tonight isn’t going to be a normal routine night for any of you, so you might as well make it special.
Your first night is a new house is something to be celebrated and your kids will feel that energy of potential, promise, and a little bit of strangeness. To help them and yourself settle into the new home, we have five fun suggestions for how to spend that first night with your boxes, children, and brand new house
Deciding what to do with your outdoor space is a crucial part of maximizing the potential of your home – particularly if you don’t actually have a lot of it. With the standard lawn being only one of many ways to go about setting up your outdoor area, it can be a little overwhelming trying to figure out how to shape your space in a way you’re not regretting later. As homeowners look to balance aesthetic appeal with functionality and maintenance requirements, a little research into the wide range of options can have you on your way to enjoying your outdoor space no matter the size. Here’s a look at five of the hottest trends in outdoor living.
TULARE, Calif. – San Joaquin Valley Homes (SJV Homes) and Presidio Residential Capital recently held a grand opening celebration at Brighton, a $34 million, 30.7-acre community offering 114 detached single-family homes in northeast Tulare. Five homes have already been sold and two homes are currently under reservation. The average price of these homes will be in the low $300,000’s.
“Brighton is a highly anticipated neighborhood as we had an interest list of 170 people before we even started sales,” said Danny Garcia, vice president of sales at SJV Homes. “Our grand opening celebration was a true success and we expect these units to sell quickly.”
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – July 30, 2015 – San Joaquin Valley Homes has broken ground on Tuscany, three communities totaling 212 single-family homes on 66.5 acres in northwest Bakersfield, Calif., with a combined value of approximately $65 million. Homes are being built by SJV Homes on 53 lots in the community.
This will be the seventh project that SJV Homes has developed in a joint venture with Presidio Residential Capital, a San Diego-based real estate investment company, which acquired 116 lots at Tuscany last year in collaboration with Cornerstone Communities.
Land development on the first phase of the project began this summer and model homes will be opening in October with homes starting in the $300,000’s.
Buying your first home is an enormous investment of time, money and emotional significance. Where you settle down and the specific property you select will shape your life for the next thirty years, and the terms of your mortgage payments will shape your finances for just as long. Many people assume home buying happens almost automatically in the natural course of finding a mate and settling down to have children, but it’s really a much more personal decision than that and doesn’t require a new family dynamic to trigger. The right time to buy a home is when it’s right for you.
Telecommuting from home grants convenience for the worker while offering money savings for the company. In fact, the number of people telecommuting in the U.S. increased a whopping 115 percent in the last 10 years, according to WorkFlexibility.org If you’re interested in joining this trend, here are a few tips for remaining productive while still balancing your life and work.
Make a space
To maintain work-life balance, you want to divide your office tasks from personal activities. Doing that effectively requires creating a separate space that you use exclusively for telecommuting, preferably one you can close off. If it’s the corner of a room, define it with a free-standing divider. A walk-in closet or entire room is ideal but only if you don’t mix family stuff in the same space.
HANFORD, Calif. – Less than a year after the sales opening, San Joaquin Valley Homes (SJV Homes) announced that all 32 single-family homes at Mountain View, an infill community at the northwest corner of 11th and Houston in Hanford, Calif., have been sold.
“We expected the neighborhood to sell fast, and it did,” said Danny Garcia, vice president of sales at SJV Homes. “This community offers a opportunity to enjoy living in a beautiful rural area with affordability and the proximity to the amenities and conveniences the town offers.”
We know who you are. You like to look at our model homes because it’s a fun thing to do, you get decorating inspiration, and lets you dream about owning a new home. We’re okay with lookie-loos and, in fact, encourage you to keep coming back. Because if you like what you see, you may just end up buying one of our properties.
But do yourself a favor when you visit. Check out how we stage our homes, so they look like something you want to buy. You’ll learn a few things about setting up your own property when it’s time to sell.
Fix what’s visible.
Everything in our models is clean and in brand new condition. Buyers remain confident that they’re buying a well-made home that won’t require additional spending for repairs and improvements. If you want your potential buyers to have the same reaction to your property, clean everything and repair as much as possible. House hunters will notice the closet door that always sticks, the burned-out light bulb, or the torn screen. If you don’t fix these issues, your buyers will overestimate the cost of repairs and deduct that amount from their initial offering. They’ll also assume that the invisible parts of your home are in equally bad condition and lower their offering price even more.
If you’re thinking about buying your first home, chances are you’re renting now. And you might be wondering whether you’re better off buying a home or continuing to rent.
The truth is there are advantages and downsides to both buying and renting depending on your circumstances. For example, renting might be better if you have a fast track career and have to move every couple of years. On the other hand, your landlord can raise your rent every year when your lease is up. Buying has the advantage of building equity and improving your credit score, but it also means paying taxes and homeowner’s insurance, and of course you’re responsible for maintenance.
To help decide if this is a good time to buy your first home, ask yourself these four questions:
“Families and young professionals absolutely love these homes on large lots, which we designed with the Visalia market in mind. They allow for ultimate flexibility and ample outdoor activities,” said Danny Garcia, vice president of sales at SJV Homes. “Homebuyers were very excited about the open layouts and the opportunity to add additional rooms and casitas.”
Ranging from 2,219 to 3,205 square feet with three to six bedrooms and two- to three-and-a-half baths, the plans have allowed buyers to personalize their homes with interior selections, additional room options, casitas, porte cochere and supplementary garages.
Homeowners insurance is an invaluable investment that helps secure and protect your home and the items within its walls. While insurance will protect your home from a variety of things such as theft as well as fire and wind damage, there are many things homeowner’s insurance doesn’t cover that often surprise homeowners. It is important you are aware of what your homeowner’s insurance does cover, so you are not surprised by a rejected claim. If you are wondering what homeowners insurance doesn’t cover, here are a few common things not covered.
Whether you’re buying your first home, moving up to better digs or downsizing as an empty nester, you’ll be faced with a delightful array of interior design choices at San Joaquin Valley Homes. You should certainly pick the options you find most appealing.
But if you intend on selling your home down the line, you may want to stick with upgrades that pay off at resale. To help you out, real estate authority Zillow analyzed the effect of certain design choices on housing values. Here are their top home upgrades and what percentage increases they add to resale values.
VISALIA, Calif. –San Joaquin Valley Homes (SJV Homes) recently announced that nine of the 51 single-family homes available at Catalina, a new 8.75-acre neighborhood in Visalia, have been reserved. Homebuyers are welcome to tour three model homes with unique floorplans, which are open Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays and Mondays from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 2120 North Highland St. in Visalia.
“Homebuyers are snapping up these efficient, low-maintenance homes – the most affordable in Visalia,” said Danny Garcia, vice president of sales for Visalia-based SJV Homes. “These charming houses are ideal for families and busy professionals.”
If you’re in the market for a home, you’re no doubt thinking of what the home itself should have. A whirlpool bath, granite counters or a beautiful garden.
Sure, amenities are important. But it’s also important to focus on the right neighborhood. The best policy in home shopping is to choose an area that has everything you need and want. Then you focus on the specific homes and what you want within them.
Why? Well, neighborhoods vary. Location is only one example. And that’s only one example. Neighborhoods vary in their safety, the number of parks and just about any factor you could name.
So, what’s the best way to choose the right neighborhood for a home? Here are three tips...
Beyond the amount of money you have to put down, the current interest rates, and the supply of housing that is available, your credit score determines whether you can buy homes for sale in the Central Valley. This number, which ranges from 300 to 850, quickly tells finance companies at a glance how good you are with handling credit.
Even in sunny San Joaquin Valley, you look forward to spring because of the longer days and the blooming of trees and flowers. But with the season of colorful renewal comes plenty of pollen as well as mold spores wafting through the air. If you suffer from allergies, being outdoors can prove a major challenge as you sneeze and itch your way through major allergens.
While there’s nothing you can do about the outdoor onslaught, you can avoid problems inside your own home by following these allergy-proofing tips for each room.
VISALIA, CA—Facing Bay Area land scarcity and steep pricing, residential builders have found a good alternative in the Central Valley south of Fresno and 200 miles from the Bay Area. San Joaquin Valley Homes and Presidio Residential Capital have closed on 29 acres (151 lots) and plan to close an additional 19 acres (67 lots) next year.
VISALIA — San Joaquin Valley Homes (SJV Homes) and Presidio Residential Capital have closed on 29 acres (151 lots) and plan to close an additional 19 acres (67 lots) next year in Visalia, Calif. The joint venture partners will build two new residential communities, Greystone and Ashton Park, totaling 218 detached single-family homes priced from the mid-$200,000s.
Spring is a wonderful time to start dreaming of the fun you will have this summer in your new home. It is also a good time to start making purchases to prepare for any summer projects you have planned. Yard and garden projects are popular for many families. If you own a new home you may be looking to put in new flowers, add mulch or create an outdoor living space. Maybe it is time to get your first grill or lawnmower. Are you considering building a deck? Often any of these projects require purchases.
