Category Archives: Home Buying

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Your Guide to Outside Spaces

When imagining your new home and the surrounding outside spaces there are a few options to consider, each with their own special offerings. Here are a few of the most popular outside structures and some things to consider with each:

Patio: A patio is defined as a paved outdoor area that is adjoining a house or structure, usually without a protective roof overhead. This is quite simply a concrete or brick area usually at the back of the house between the house structure and the yard beyond.

Veranda: A veranda, in contract, is a roofed platform along the outside of a house and level with the ground flood. The platform can be made of wood or, like the patio mentioned above, can be concrete or brick.

Porch: A porch is a covered structure projecting out from the front of a house or structure, almost always with a door into the main house. The building materials often vary widely, as do the stylistic considerations with elements like railings, stairs leading to the yard, and overall look of the structure.

Porto-cochere: This features comes from the French Country House style, as seen in this week’s Plan of the Week. A covered area between the main house at the front and a gate house-type structure, it historically provided a shelter from the weather to visitors disembarking from vehicles. Still used often in commercial hotels, porto-cocheres are usually made with natural materials such as stone or mason work and are a beautiful blend of function and a rustic elegance style.

Gazebo: A gazebo is a separate structure on the property but not attached to the main house. A stand-alone roofed area often with a low railing all around, gazebos are almost always built in a circular pattern and offer 360 degree views of the surrounding landscape.

Pergola: A pergola is a stylized structure most often seen surrounding a garden space. It is tall and with an open area above, often used as a support for perennial vining and trailing plants such as wisteria.

Some of these structures can be added once the house is built, but some of the others require working with your designer at the house plan stage of this project. It is important to have an idea of how you envision spending time outdoors at an early stage of your dream home project, as many of these options are included in the house plan and designer you choose to work with.

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In a world full of conformity and sameness, there are many opportunities to show your unique vision through your dream home project. Creative solutions to common problems are the specialties of many architects, and these types of issues that require them to accomplish something typical in a new and fresh way is often the bread-and-butter of a design assignment. Here at Monster House Plans, we make it easier than ever to create a custom house plan you can get excited about.

Some of these creative decisions do not require expert guidance, however. Consider that the street view is the first impression your home makes to your family and your guests alike. Curb appeal is a big deal at every stage of your dream home project: it is important in everything from the way you feel as you walk up the front steps and insert your key into the door to the potential increase in overall home value to potential buyers by drawing them in.

Your front door says a lot about your family. For many home builders and home owners, a front door is the single most effective way to make a strong aesthetic statement. It is the perfect bend of beauty and function, as the front door is your welcome statement and also serves some very important purposes. In addition to serving as the entrance space for your home, your front door is also a security feature. When considering an artistic flair for your door, make sure that the basic functionality remains intact. While fancy plate-glass windows might appeal to your decorative sense, you do sacrifice some privacy aspects that a door can provide, and that might not be the best idea in high traffic areas. Dutch doors are quirky and wonderful, but are often preferred in the back of the house as they offer a more intimate entry into your home space.

As you choose your front door to perfectly accent the façade of your dream home, look for ways to balance beauty and function. Often the most aesthetically pleasing choices are embodiments of these two elements in harmony.

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Outside Dining

As these first warm evenings of a warm springtime begin to occur, many of our families feel the urge to take our dinner plates outside and enjoy this in-between season.

When it comes time to plan for your outside eating space, there are many things to remember in order to prepare for the best use of your space. Does your chosen house plan boast a large porch or desk area? Is it an enclosed patio, or is there merely an overhang? Features such as these are worth considering in preparation for a time when you’re faced with bothersome insects, or rain fall on a pleasant evening.

If you enjoy playing the host, consider building a deck or patio area that can not only support many people at a time but is also in close proximity to the kitchen for ease in dinner service. These modified porches make entertaining a simple and enjoyable affair by providing ample space for preparing and serving meals; rather than running back and forth from the house to the patio, your time is freed up to focus on your guests and the meal you are serving.

By thinking of these spaces as extensions of your home you become empowered to evolve an evening out into the yard with ease. Whether it’s a simple dinnertime affair on a weeknight or a larger celebratory event, expanding your home area to include your outside space is one of the very best ways to maximize your investment with adaptive spaces.

This is just the beginning of the season of longer days and hotter temperatures. Whether you’re escaping the heat of the house in the afternoon or taking in a cool evening breeze, remember how you will use your yard and porch spaces when choosing your dream house plan. With a bit of foresight, these areas can be built in conjunction with your house project, saving money and time in the long run.

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Families are a dynamic organization. Whether your family is growing in number or becoming smaller; whether your kids are getting older or your parents are looking to age in place; toddlers tuning into teenagers, in-laws and parents aging, family pets, job changes…. nearly any change in life can alter the demands we place on our home spaces. As the years go by we are often in a position to rethink and retool the way we move through our house, adapting to the changing needs of a life affected by many elements.

When looking for a house plan to suit the needs of a family, many people are prioritizing flexible spaces as a way to ensure that the house they choose will continue to be functional for many years. And it’s not just extra bedrooms we’re talking about here, although that is one of the easiest ways to evolve your needs: a guest room easily converts into a nursery; the home office adapts into a craft/work space with ample storage. In addition to convertible rooms, these days there are often flexible spaces built right into the house plan. This gives the buyer the ability to imagine how that space could best be utilized by their unique family.

The country-style house plan is growing in popularity- in large part because of its ability to offer such flexibility. These house plan styles stand with one foot in each of two worlds: a modern interior with loads of flexible space housed behind a classic country-style façade. This style is often denoted by its ability to prioritize functionality over traditional needs, as seen by the lacking of a formal dining room in favor of a large eating space right off the kitchen much better suited to today’s modern, multitasking family. And yet the great room echoes the traditional dramatic space perfect for celebrating holidays and get-togethers. These rooms often boast vaulted ceilings and classically functional features like built-in book shelves flanking an impressive mantle.

No matter which phase of life your family is currently in, it is important to find a house plan that can suit everyone’s needs as they grow and change. This is, in fact, why most people would choose to build their dream house over buying something already standing: who better to predict the future needs of your dynamic family but you?

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Building your own dream house can be a daunting task. There are many details to see to and countless decisions to make and the whole thing can become overwhelming quickly without a good plan to guide you through the process. And when it comes to staying within your budget here are a few tips to keep your plan on track:

  1. Choose your builder carefully. This may be the most important decision you make after you purchase your house plan. This relationship will be very important through the building process and a good builder will be able to advise you on many elements of the project.
  2. Work with your architect to ensure efficient building proportions. Plywood and drywall come in sheets 4 ’ x 8’, and structural lumber often comes in 2’ increments. Consider this and other standard material measurements when fine-tuning the design of your house plan. Odd shapes and lengths have the potential to create a considerable amount of scrap- and thus wasted- materials.
  3. Utilize any discounts you can. Be savvy when it comes to purchasing supplies. See if you can use your builder’s discount. Look into remnants and left over supplies for things like flooring and countertops; a previous construction project might have created loads of left-over materials that could be perfect for your space and design.
  4. Keep the roof pitch to a maximum of the standard 8/12. The more dramatic the pitch of the roof, the higher the labor cost a construction team will be able to charge. Or, if a steeper roof is desirable, consider using more than one pitch to minimize the amount of time and materials used on these more decorative elements.
  5. Design your home for low maintenance. Consider that skimping on some materials now will cost you more in the future. Things like windows, doors, roofing materials, and foundations are places where it is advisable to choose quality over low-cost. The process of repairing or replacing these elements in the future can be prohibitively expensive; better to build your structure with quality from the start.
  6. Use fancy materials where it counts. A stonework façade is a stunning improvement to the curb appeal of any home, but can be quite costly to create. Consider that perhaps the back and sides of the house are not in quite as much need for the dressy stonework as the front. Utilize high-quality materials where they will be appreciated.

The key to a successful home building project is to stay organized and keep your visions in mind as you move forward. Taking things one step at a time and utilizing all of your resources can keep you well within your budget and minimize unexpected set-backs.

 

 

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So, after all the stress of selling your home, you now have to buy one, which can be equally, if not more stressful. To make things a little easier for you, here’s a guide to help you on your way, and hopefully make it a much less stressful journey…

1. Buy a home you can afford

This may seem obvious, but please don’t overlook it. Too many times people get their heart set on a beautiful home that is way out of their price range. Work out how much you have to spend on a house first, then only look at houses in that price range. A good starting point is to look at houses that are worth 2 and a half times your yearly salary. There are plenty of online calculators that can help you work out how much you will be able to get on a mortgage, and then tell you how much and for how long you will be paying it back (just Google ‘online mortgage calculator Canada’.)

2. Don’t be afraid to get help

If the whole buying process is getting a little bit too much for you then you can enlist the help of a real estate agent to help you find your dream home. Not only will they help you to find a new home, but they will help with the bidding process too, and their professional experience could go a long way here!

3. Look for houses that are near schools

If you don’t have children then this may seem like a strange thing to do, and if you do have children, it will seem like a very obvious thing to do. The fact is, that homes near schools are always in high demand, so if you want to sell that house in the future it will be a lot easier, and you may even get an increased price for it.

4. Done buy before you have had the house inspected

There is nothing worse than buying your dream house and then finding out you are going to have to spend a fortune on house repairs because you didn’t know about the house’s structural problems before you bought it. Don’t be blind sighted by the need to buy a house quickly, employing a house inspector to look around prospective houses may save you a fortune in years to come.
And remember, it may be stressful, but this whole process is also supposed to be fun! Happy buying everyone…

Niqui Stubbs is a medical student with a passion for home interiors, who also works for a company called Search Laboratory. She has lived in 4 rented houses in the past 4 years and is now looking to buy a house of her own. She also loves writing about interior design, as it is what she would have gone into if she wasn’t going to be a doctor. She is currently writing for Agent Find, a company in Canada who are dedicated to helping their customers find the perfect estate agent in order to sell their house, or buy the home of their dreams.

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Use of solar energy is becoming more and more popular every day. The price of electricity is rising and the best alternative that we have today is using solar energy. We all know that global warming is on an everyday rise today. The main reason for this being burning of fossil fuels like coal, which in turn is being used to produce electricity, so if we want our future to be safe, this is the time we step forward and start using solar technology.

NEED FOR ELECTRICAL POWER

Arguments that have constantly supported that electricity is of utmost importance and needs to remain are: Continue reading →

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The process of building a house requires a lot of careful planning and thought, especially while deciding on the floor plans. The process of finalizing a floor plan can be challenging, but it can be made easier if you follow the steps given below:

Specify your budget

This is probably the most important factor of deciding your home plans. You need to set a specific amount as your budget and ensure that you do not exceed it at any cost. By setting a budget, you would have a better idea of what you can and cannot add to your home floor plans.

Consider your lifestyle and family requirements

When you are working on the floor plans for your home, you need to ask yourself what you liked and disliked in your previous house. You should consider your lifestyle in your previous home and try to add some aspects from that in your new home. Moreover, your lifestyle may change drastically if you have just married or got a promotion or a new job. In simple terms, your house plans have to suit your lifestyle requirements. If you live with your family, then it is not just your lifestyle that matters. Ask your family members what they want from the house and include their inputs in your home plans.

Think about the location of your house

The final important factor you need to think about is the location of your house. The shape and size of the house, the arrangement of the rooms and everything else depends on the location of your home. The direction of each room in the floor plans also needs to be determined. Even if you do not believe in the astrological implications, you need to consider the effect of the prevalent climate and noise. For example, your bedroom would have to be fitted with an overhang if the climate is always sunny, and it would also have to be placed away from the noise so that there is no disturbance while sleeping.

At MonsterHousePlans, we made the plan searching job really easy for you. You can search plans from our database of more than 22000 plans. Visit https://www.monsterhouseplans.com/house-plans-advanced-search.html to search and get an appropriate plan for your house.

 

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Home-buyers tend to have a difficult time with getting organized for the financing of their shiny new house. Well, we have some tips to help prepare you for the process. With just a little knowledge about what to expect, a home-buyer can make the whole process quick and smooth. It can all be broken down into four simple steps to get a head start.

 

1. Check your scores. Surely, you have already heard about the FICO scores or your credit scores in the past. Before even looking at houses, make sure that your score is up to par. It is free to get a copy of your credit reports from all three bureaus once every six months. Use these as goals. Try to remove any bad markings that might be on these reports. For instance, if you had a water bill that you owed from your old apartment, it might show up on here. Try to take care of this before looking into financing your new home. It will easily raise your score a few points. These scores determine the monthly cost that you will incur and the down payment needed for this new mortgage. Continue reading →