Showing posts with label plainfield. Show all posts
Showing posts with label plainfield. Show all posts

Monday, November 10, 2008

Great Loan Programs for Lakewood Prairie Buyers


Anyone who pays attention to the news has heard that financing can be "hard" to find right now. Now, while that may be true for some...the vast majority of Lakewood Prairie buyers have found some really great financing programs this fall.

If you are a first time buyer(s) with average credit and individual (or combined) income ranging from $40,000 to $90,000...we have three unbelievably good financing and tax savings programs available for you!

#1) The American Dream Program. This program is ideal for first time buyers. It features:

A competitive fixed interest rate
NO reserves required at closing
NO Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)
Lakewood supplies 3% down and up to 2% towards closing costs
Income restrictions apply


#2) The USDA Guaranteed Rural Housing Program. This program is not restricted to first time buyers. This program features:

30 year fixed rate financing
102% Financing available with financed 2% guarantee fee
No Private Mortgage Insurance (PMI)
Allows 3% Lakewood contribution toward down payment or closing costs.
Income restrictions also apply


#3) The IHDA "I-Loan" Certificate (MCC) Program. This program is available exclusively in our Joliet community.

The I-Loan Certificate (Mortgage Credit Certificate, a.k.a. MCC) allows first-time buyers to receive a dollar for dollar reduction in federal income taxes of 25% of the mortgage interest paid. This reduction is in addition to the standard income tax deduction available when purchasing a home. Keep in mind that the I-Loan certificate is not a loan. It is a tax-credit for first time buyers.


If you would like more information on any of these programs please email Richard Bridges at richard@lakewoodhomes.net or call us at (815) 439-5777. These programs are available for a limited time. They will not be available too much longer so be sure to find out if you qualify!

Monday, October 13, 2008

Ready to Move!


Did you know that Lakewood Prairie has only six homes available for buyers looking to move into a new home prior to Spring 2009? With savings of anywhere from $40,000 to over $80,000 these "Ready to Move In" homes are sure to be snatched up soon.

Here is a brief list of the available new homes...

The Richmond at 1209 Fawnlilly Circle
Available Dec/Jan…$238,000 full price…
Now available at $195,000… SAVE OVER $40,000!

The Graham Model at 1112 Woodiris Drive
Available Oct/Nov…$355,000 full price with decorator furnishings…
Now available at $274,900 with furniture… SAVE OVER $80,000!

The LaFayette at 1223 Morgana Court
Available by October 1st…$351,000 full price …
Now available at $285,000… SAVE OVER $60,000!

The Newcastle at 7807 Jewelflower Court
Available after the first of the year…$337,000 full price…
Now available at $275,000… SAVE OVER $60,000!

The Ridgefield at 7806 Jewelflower Court
Available after the first of the year…$361,000 full price…
Now available at $299,000… SAVE OVER $60,000!

Lakewood Prairie...Something for Everyone!

Lakewood Prairie offers four unique series of architectural designs at our Lakewood Prairie community.


The Country Homes

Four delightful, attached single family homes that live like traditional single family homes, the Country Homes are an affordable option for young families. From 1250 square feet to nearly 1900 square feet, these homes feature two-three-four bedrooms and 2 ½ baths, these ranch and two-story designs feature a private back yard, where you can have a barbecue, plant a garden or put up a swing set.

Prices range from $179,990 to the low $200,000’s.

Free full basements are available for a limited time!

New Premier Series

Lakewood has also introduced the Premier Series at Lakewood Prairie. These new homes are four two-story designs ranging from 2,048 to 2,819 square feet. These two-story single family homes include four bedrooms plus loft, 2 ½ baths, 9’ first floor ceilings, and two-car garages.

Prices range from $189,990 to the mid $200,000’s.

Free full basements are available for a limited time!

The Classic Series

These are American classics, the kind of homes we all grew up in… only better! The Classic Homes are carefully designed to give you maximum space, style and affordability. These four homes range from 1614 square feet up to 2171 square feet. These two-story single family homes include a partial basement with three or four bedrooms, 2 ½ baths, two car garages, and more.

Prices range from $233,990 to the upper $200,000’s.

$20,000 free design center gift certificate for a limited time!

The Executive Series

These spacious, family size homes feature up to 4, 5, and even 6 bedrooms and 2 ½ to 4 baths, some with unexpected extra spaces like dens, second floor family rooms, lofts, and sunrooms. They're designed for the times of your life – with big, bright living areas for family time, gracious living and dining rooms for elegant entertaining, and for the quiet times, private master suites with luxurious baths. These homes range from 2351 square feet up to 4000 square feet! These two-story single family homes include partial basements and either a two or three car garage and much more.

Prices range from $259,990 to the upper $300,000’s.

$30,000 free design center gift certificate for a limited time!

Friday, June 20, 2008

Why Buying a Brand New Home still makes Sense

Here is a very good posting taken from www.newhomeguide.com that spells out the advantages of investing in a brand new home versus buying a used home.

Advantages of Buying New

While owning a resale home holds great appeal for some, more and more home buyers are choosing to build their new dream home. Here are just a few reasons why your next home may be brand new:

Ease of Maintenance

New homes don't require as much upkeep as an older home. Many home buyers are finding they want to spend more time on valuable weekends with family and friends than performing home repair. And some home buyers just find they don't have the necessary skills to perform do-it-yourself maintenance and would prefer to live in a home that doesn't require those skills.



Customization

Of great appeal to many a new home buyer is the thought of making their home truly reflect their tastes and lifestyle. From the moment they walk in the door, the home feels like their own as they chose every paint color, cabinet, countertop, carpet, plumbing and lighting fixture.

Community

A community of new homes allows for the planned devlopment of that community. Whether it be active adults, families with young children or golf and tennis enthusiasts, new home buyers know they'll immediately have something in common with their neighbors when they move in.

Floor Plan for Today's Living

Buying a resale home typically means you're stuck with that home's layout (as most don't have stacks of cash sitting around for major renovation projects) that has a design appropriate for 10, 20, even 50 years ago. Today's homes reflect the changing lifestyles of home owners with amenities like more open kitchens, cable jacks throughout the house, more plentiful outlets, etc.

Energy Efficiency

The materials used in today's home are far more effective at reducing energy costs than resale homes. The savings provided in utility bills can quickly offset the price of a new home. (editors note: One study estimates that today's new homes are as much as 30% more energy efficient than homes built just 30 years ago!)

Safety

In addition to less energy efficient materials, older homes can have hazardous materials like asbestos, lead-based paint or faulty wiring contained within them. A new home is subject to the current building codes that require more stringent safety requirements regarding materials or severe weather.

Technology

Retrofitting older homes with today's technology can be an exercise in frustration and futility. They just weren't designed with those items in mind (and to be fair, it's hard to design for something that didn't exist at the time). It's significantly easier to add wiring for surround sound speakers or wired or wireless internet access to a new home while it's being framed.

Warranties & Customer Service

New homes will often come with a complete warranty that covers everything on the house, inside and out. While warranties are available for resale homes, they're typically for only for one year from the purchase date and only cover specific items in the home. A new home can have a much longer warranty and provide more options when something goes wrong.

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Couple Discover More than Value at Lakewood Prairie

Patrice and Jerry Conley are extremely glad they decided to have Lakewood Homes build their first new construction home at Lakewood Prairie in Joliet. This couple was nearing a decision on their purchase of a new single-family home last summer when they decided to make one last stop and check out what Lakewood had to offer. Jerry and Patrice immediately recognized the value that Lakewood is famous for and also appreciated the genuine interest Lakewood’s personnel took in them, factors that led them to choose Lakewood as their builder of choice.

Lakewood Prairie is a clubhouse community featuring 551 single-family homes priced from the low $230s along with 214 attached style Country Homes, starting in the $180s. Fully decorated and furnished models are open for tours everyday.

“It was in July of last year that we stopped by and took a look around Lakewood Prairie. We wanted to stay in the southwest suburbs and thought we should see what Lakewood had to offer. I was impressed with the amount of square footage you get forthe money and also by the salespeople, who really cared about what we were looking for and about our needs. When it came time to make our decision, there was no way Jerry and I could say no, so we went with Lakewood,” Patrice said.

Lakewood Prairie has been a best selling community, attracting buyers like the Conleys, in part because it offers a great selection of 11 different single-family floor plans ranging in size from over 1,600 up to approximately 4,000 square feet. There are four Classic Series homes, priced from the low $230s that feature two-story layouts with three to four bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths, luxury master suites with walk-in closets and private baths, basements and attached two-car garages.

There are also seven impressive Executive Series homes at Lakewood Prairie, starting in the $260s. These home designs are ideal for move-up buyers, growing families or people with a related living situation. The Executive Series are two-story plans with up to six bedrooms, up to four baths, luxury master bedroom suites with private baths and one or more walk-in closets, dens, second floor family rooms (per plan), basements and two or three-car attached garages.

Lakewood also offers its unique Country Home Series at this community. Country Homes are attached single-family designs with the look and feel of a traditionalsingle-family home. The Country Homes range in size from 1,250 to nearly 1,900 square feet, with prices starting in the $180s. There are beautifully decorated and fully furnished models highlighting plans from all series that are open for tours everyday at Lakewood Prairie.

Even though Patrice and Jerry’s children are grown and living away from home, this couple wanted to find a single-family home that would give them much more space than their townhome in Bolingbrook had. They concentrated their search on the Executive Series homes at Lakewood Prairie and settled on the Jefferson model, a popular choice for many buyers because of its open layout and great value.

“We wanted room to spread out, with an open floor plan and at least three bedrooms. We both liked the openness of the Jefferson and the overall flow of this plan. We were also very excited to be purchasing new construction,” said Patrice.

The Jefferson is a comfortable 2,351 square foot two-story, with four bedrooms, 2-1/2 baths and a two-car attached garage. This home highlights formal living and dining rooms, a two-story entry foyer, a corner den and a very open kitchen, breakfast area and family room configuration. The kitchen features a pantry, center island and built-in planning desk.

Upstairs, the Jefferson showcases three secondary bedrooms and a luxury master suite with a deep walk-in closet and a private full bath. The bedroom closest to the top of the stairs can be converted into a loft, an option the Conleys chose in their Jefferson. The couple’s new home also sports oak rails on the stairway and an expanded kitchen with deluxe black appliances and countertops plus beautiful kitchen cabinets with crown moulding.

The Conleys also selected elegant French door that lead into the den, a full basement and a deluxe master bath with a dual bowl vanity, separate shower and a corner whirlpool tub. The couple plans on using their loft space as a mini home theater and video game area, with the two secondary bedrooms reserved for when their children visit or for other guests. The basement is where Jerry can play with his RC cars and other ‘toys’, while Patrice plans on setting up a wet bar and game tables on the other side. Their home has a charming brick front elevation with decorative shutters and a covered front entryway and sits on a quiet cul-de-sac home site that backs to open space.

Aside from getting a new home that had everything they could have dreamed of, the Conleys also received something equally important from Lakewood: highly personalized and responsive customer service. Patrice says that all their questions were answered thoroughly and honestly and that she and Jerry always felt welcomed every time they stopped by to check on the progress of their home.

“What really impressed us was the genuine interest in what was going on in our lives that Lakewood’s salespeople took in us. I really feel we developed a close personal relationship with them during the purchase and construction of our new home and it gave us a great feeling, knowing we didn’t have to worry about anything,” she said.

The private resident clubhouse at Lakewood Prairie will be a popular spot for the Conley’s nieces and nephews when they come to visit. This facility has an outdoor pool with sundeck along with a toddler pool, tennis and sand volleyball courts. Inside, the clubhouse has a furnished great room with a big screen television, fireplace and kitchen.

There’s so much that Jerry and Patrice enjoy about their new home at Lakewood Prairie and because they had such a wonderful experience with the company, they have already told many of their friends and acquaintances to consider a Lakewood home.

“Our experience has been great and as our first single-family home purchase, we love the privacy we now have and enjoy living in a great neighborhood in a growing area. We are proud to be Lakewood homeowners,” Patrice said.

Lakewood Prairie is located on Ridge Road, one mile south of Caton Farm Road in Joliet. To visit, take Route 59 to Caton Farm Road west four miles to Ridge Road, one mile south to the community on the left. The sales center is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by appointment. For more information, call 1-815-439-5777 or visit www.lakewoodhomes.com.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

News You Can Use

Even Now, Buying Home a Smart Move

BY GREGORY KARP-SPENDING SMART
June 1, 2008 (Article Borrowed from the Chicago Tribune Business Section)

Purchasing a home is generally considered a good way to spend money, but is a declining real estate market the right time to buy? How about housing markets where long-term prices have risen slower than average? What if prices already had a big run-up and haven't fallen much?

Those are all the wrong questions because they focus on changes in house prices, contend Gary Smith and Margaret Smith, authors of the new book "Houseonomics: Why Owning a Home is Still a Great Investment." Buying a home can be a smart move, even if prices stay flat over a long period, say the husband-and-wife team who, respectively, are an economics professor at Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., and president of her own fee-only financial planning firm.

"All people think about is how fast prices go up," Gary Smith said. The more central question is, "How much money can I save on rent?"

The basis of their argument is you have to live somewhere. So you either buy or rent your shelter. If you buy, your house can generate an income, or cash flow. That income, what they call the "home dividend," is equal to the money you save by not renting, plus the tax benefits of having a mortgage, minus the mortgage payments and other homeownership expenses.

Many consumers have considered the rent-savings concept in general, having a vague notion that they're throwing away money on rent. But it looks a lot different, and compelling, when you flesh it out with numbers.

A couple years ago, while many housing experts were screaming about bubble markets, the Smiths were analyzing data and concluding many markets, including Indianapolis, Dallas and Atlanta, were not bubble markets. In fact, houses there, based on their home dividends, were tremendous bargains.

Consider a house in the Indianapolis suburb of Fishers, Ind., that sold for $135,000. Annual rent savings for a comparably sized dwelling totaled $15,000, while the mortgage tax deduction was worth $2,447. Subtract the annual mortgage payments, property taxes, insurance and maintenance, and the new owners were left with a house dividend of $5,622.

That means at the end of the year, the couple who bought that house had that much more in their bank account than if they had rented for that year. Assuming the couple made a 20 percent down payment, their return after the first year was a whopping 21 percent. And the return, compared with renting, increases each year as rents rise.

But the return excludes expenses incurred in buying and selling a home, such as closing costs and real estate agent commissions, because they aren't incurred every year. If the couple stayed in the home a short time, the transaction costs would diminish that return. People who don't itemize their income taxes would not receive the added tax benefit.

The point, though, is that you can have a tremendous investment return from your house that has nothing to do with an increase in its potential sale price.

In fact, the authors say, your house can be your financial engine to prosperity. During working years, a house is a form of forced savings. It's a source of borrowing via equity loans. In retirement, you can use home equity to help pay for retirement by downsizing to a smaller home and pocketing the difference, often tax free. Or you could obtain a reverse mortgage, which provides an income stream. If you pay off the mortgage, you get to live rent-free in retirement.

Indeed, the average homeowner has a net worth of nearly $200,000, while the average renters have a net worth of less than $5,000, according to the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances. And it's not because homeowners have 40 times the income of renters; they only have about twice as much.

You can calculate your home dividend. Online at http://www.houseonomics.com/, the authors have a calculator, which you can use for free by creating a login.

Home dividends can come out positive or negative. Some will be negative at first but will turn positive as rents go up and rental savings grows, Gary Smith said.

Gregory Karp is a personal finance writer for The Morning Call, a Tribune Co. newspaper in Allentown, Pa. E-mail him at yourmoney @tribune.com. For additional discussion on spending wisely, see the Spending Smart blog at http://blogs.mcall.com/ /spendingsmart.

Copyright © 2008,
Chicago Tribune

Saturday, May 31, 2008

The American Dream Builder Presents "Dream Points"

Lakewood’s “Dream Points” solve the problems that new home buyers face. Each point is worth a dollar. Depending on the home you choose, you could have 10,000...20,000...even 30,000!

Here’s how they worked to solve four typical problems, based on real people who recently bought Lakewood homes.

1. Sara and her husband had an existing home to sell and
didn’t want the equity to be used up by realtor and moving
expenses.

Solution: Dream Points paid both the realtor’s
commission and moving expenses.


2. Another couple discovered that the monthly payments on
their new home would be too high.

Solution: Dream Points brought down the rate and they were able to escrow their down payment for future taxes, resulting in an affordable monthly payment.


3. One couple said that car payments and the price of gasoline
made the cost of a new mortgage out of the question.

Solution: Dream Points were used for a down payment on an
affordable new car lease, and provided free gasoline for a year!


4. Another family told us that purchasing would be a problem
because after they moved in, they’d need cash for furnishings
and decorating.

Solution: Dream Points paid for rooms full of
brand new furniture and terrific landscaping, too.



Dream Points can solve other kinds of problems too. They can reduce down payments to zero, lower association dues, provide for 6 months of payment-free living...and can even lower interest rates.

People who visit Lakewood Homes today are saying, “Our problems are solved!” Thousands of Dream Points are waiting for you now to make your American Dream come true. How will you spend them?

Welcome to Lakewood Prairie

Thank you for visiting Lakewood Prairie's new information site. We will be constantly updating this site with all sorts of new and useful information that will help our friends and neighbors learn more about our community. We think it will help you to discover why Lakewood Prairie is such a great place to live.

You can use our "Great Links" to access all of the helpful Lakewood Websites. You can watch our informational videos and even enjoy some of our "vintage" Lakewood promo videos. You can send information to friends and neighbors. Take our "online poll" so that we can continue to learn more about you and your family. Additionally, you can contact our sales team directly, we are only a "point & click" away.

We will help you learn more about our community, our company, and our area. You can get frequent updates and new information. We hope to be able to help each of our visitors as they seek to find their own American Dream!

In the meantime, please enjoy this video that will give you a brief overview of our community.



Thanks for visiting. We look forward to your next visit to Lakewood Prairie.